Virus
Lassa virus
Arenavirus, Mastomys rat, West Africa
LAH-suh VY-rus
High-yield clue
Arenavirus of West Africa spread by Mastomys rat excreta; a classic sequela is sensorineural hearing loss.
Overview
An enveloped ambisense single-stranded RNA arenavirus (genus Mammarenavirus) with a segmented genome, studied as the West African hemorrhagic-fever virus carried by the multimammate rat.
Classification
- Arenaviridae
- Genus Mammarenavirus
- Ambisense ssRNA
- Two segments (bisegmented)
- Enveloped
Lab & identification clues
- Segmented ambisense arenavirus genome vocabulary
- 'Sandy' arenavirus (ribosome inclusion) framing
- Sensorineural hearing loss sequela association
Associations
- Mastomys natalensis (multimammate rat) reservoir
- Exposure to rodent urine/droppings
- West African endemic epidemiology
- Viral hemorrhagic fever presentation vocabulary
Commonly confused with
- Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus
- Ebola virus
Your notes
Original student-study summary. Sources checked: OpenStax Microbiology 2e, NCBI Bookshelf Medical Microbiology, and CDC topic pages where applicable; reviewed 2026-06. Educational only; no diagnosis, treatment, dosing, or specimen-handling guidance.