What’s the Fever?
Program Info
EcoHealth Alliance’s What’s the Fever, Liberia (WTFL) project is a five-year research initiative that aims to reduce the threat of pathogens that cause acute febrile illness (AFI) in Liberia. With funding from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency and partnerships with in-country collaborators, WTFL operates within and expands Liberia’s existing research infrastructure to understand and mitigate disease transmission between humans and animals.
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Most emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in origin, meaning that they are spread between animals and people. WTFL uses a One Health approach to investigate this intersection of animal and human health. In Liberia, patients who fall ill with fever and other general symptoms are often treated for presumed malaria or typhoid – these presumptive diagnoses fail to capture infections with either known or emerging zoonotic pathogens. WTFL can guide public health action to reduce disease transmission risk and optimize future clinical treatment by deepening our understanding of the true causes and risk factors of AFI.
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Liberian WTFL scientists screen samples collected from domestic animals, rodents, and bats for various types of AFI-causing pathogens, in addition to samples from patients who have been hospitalized with AFI. AFI hospital patients and community members also respond to survey questions to help researchers characterize their exposure to animals and participation in activities that may lead to increased disease risk.
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With its One Health approach, WTFL can identify AFI-causing pathogens that circulate between humans and animals, characterize high-risk human-animal interactions, and advise public health initiatives to reduce the incidence of disease transmission. Working within Liberia’s public health and research networks, WTFL provides training opportunities for Liberia’s scientists, strengthens surveillance and diagnostic systems, and reinforces Liberia as a leader of One Health in action.
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Learn more about our collaborators: