Nigeria has joined a $6.4 million international research consortium to accelerate the development of a vaccine against Lassa fever, according to a statement from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) shared in Abuja.
The initiative, named Unravelling Natural and Vaccine-Elicited Immunity to Lassa Fever (UNVEIL), is led by the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) with funding from CEPI.
Three Nigerian institutions—Jos University Teaching Hospital, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi—will serve as frontline clinical sites, collaborating with Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone.
The research aims to identify immune markers or correlates of protection—biological signatures in blood or cells that indicate immunity to Lassa fever.
Experts noted that this breakthrough could allow vaccine developers to measure protection through laboratory tests, bypassing lengthy clinical trials and expediting vaccine delivery to affected communities.
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Dr Courtney Woolsey, Principal Investigator of UNVEIL, stated, “Once we can measure protection in a blood test instead of a prolonged clinical efficacy trial, we can deliver vaccines to impacted communities much faster,” highlighting the removal of a “huge roadblock” in vaccine development.
Lassa fever affects an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 people annually, with case fatality rates exceeding 20 percent among hospitalised patients.
Survivors often face complications like irreversible hearing loss, and 95 percent of pregnancies in infected women result in miscarriage.
Dr Katrin Ramsauer, CEPI’s Lassa Disease Programme Lead, described the research as a milestone, saying, “A vaccine is urgently needed against Lassa fever, a deadly disease that continues to burden West Africa. Knowing the immune markers that correspond to protection will be a milestone achievement in our work against Lassa fever.”
The consortium will also enhance capacity in African partner hospitals through training in diagnostics, biobanking, and clinical research, strengthening regional outbreak response and health security.
Experts believe the methods developed for Lassa fever could be adapted for other haemorrhagic fevers, such as Ebola, boosting global pandemic preparedness.
UNVEIL unites scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone in virology, immunology, bioinformatics, and clinical care, reflecting a “Team Science” approach to address infectious diseases disproportionately affecting Africa.