Oyewale Tomori | |
---|---|
President of the Nigerian Academy of Science 2013 | |
Vice chancellor of Redeemer's University | |
In office 2004–2011 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Osun State,Nigeria | 3 February 1946
Political party | Non-Partisan |
Oyewale Tomori (born 3 February 1946,Osun State,Nigeria) is a Nigerian professor of virology,educational administrator,and former vice chancellor of Redeemer's University. [1] [2] [3] [4] In 2024,he became the chair of West Africa National Academy of Scientists. [5]
Tomori was born in Ilesa,Osun State,Nigeria on 3 February 1946. He received a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine(DVM) from Ahmadu Bello University,Zaria as well as a Doctorate degree,Ph.D in virology from the University of Ibadan,Oyo State,Nigeria where he was appointed professor of virology in 1981,the same year he received the United States Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service Certificate for contributions to Lassa fever research. [6] [7] [8] Three years (1984) after his appointment as a professor of virology,he was appointed the head of the Department of Virology. At the University of Ibadan Tomori's research interest focuses on viral infections including Ebola hemorrhagic fever, [9] yellow fever,Lassa fever. [10] He served as the Regional Virologist for the World Health Organization Africa Region (1994-2004) before he was appointed as the pioneer vice chancellor of Redeemer's University,Ogun State,Nigeria,a tenure that ended in 2011. [11] [12] [13]
He is a recipient of several awards and fellow of many international academic organizations. Among others are;
Lassa fever,also known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever,is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus. Many of those infected by the virus do not develop symptoms. When symptoms occur they typically include fever,weakness,headaches,vomiting,and muscle pains. Less commonly there may be bleeding from the mouth or gastrointestinal tract. The risk of death once infected is about one percent and frequently occurs within two weeks of the onset of symptoms. Of those who survive,about a quarter have hearing loss,which improves within three months in about half of these cases.
Marburg virus disease (MVD),formerly Marburg hemorrhagic fever (MHF) is a viral hemorrhagic fever in human and non-human primates caused by either of the two Marburgviruses:Marburg virus (MARV) and Ravn virus (RAVV). Its clinical symptoms are very similar to those of Ebola virus disease (EVD).
The genus Ebolavirus is a virological taxon included in the family Filoviridae,order Mononegavirales. The members of this genus are called ebolaviruses,and encode their genome in the form of single-stranded negative-sense RNA. The six known virus species are named for the region where each was originally identified:Bundibugyo ebolavirus,Reston ebolavirus,Sudan ebolavirus,TaïForest ebolavirus,Zaire ebolavirus,and Bombali ebolavirus. The last is the most recent species to be named and was isolated from Angolan free-tailed bats in Sierra Leone. Each species of the genus Ebolavirus has one member virus,and four of these cause Ebola virus disease (EVD) in humans,a type of hemorrhagic fever having a very high case fatality rate. The Reston virus has caused EVD in other primates. Zaire ebolavirus has the highest mortality rate of the ebolaviruses and is responsible for the largest number of outbreaks of the six known species of the genus,including the 1976 Zaire outbreak and the outbreak with the most deaths (2014).
Lassa mammarenavirus (LASV) is an arenavirus that causes Lassa hemorrhagic fever,a type of viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF),in humans and other primates. Lassa mammarenavirus is an emerging virus and a select agent,requiring Biosafety Level 4-equivalent containment. It is endemic in West African countries,especially Sierra Leone,the Republic of Guinea,Nigeria,and Liberia,where the annual incidence of infection is between 300,000 and 500,000 cases,resulting in 5,000 deaths per year.
An arenavirus is a bi- or trisegmented ambisense RNA virus that is a member of the family Arenaviridae. These viruses infect rodents and occasionally humans. A class of novel,highly divergent arenaviruses,properly known as reptarenaviruses,have also been discovered which infect snakes to produce inclusion body disease,mostly in boa constrictors. At least eight arenaviruses are known to cause human disease. The diseases derived from arenaviruses range in severity. Aseptic meningitis,a severe human disease that causes inflammation covering the brain and spinal cord,can arise from the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. Hemorrhagic fever syndromes,including Lassa fever,are derived from infections such as Guanarito virus,Junin virus,Lassa virus,Lujo virus,Machupo virus,Sabia virus,or Whitewater Arroyo virus. Because of the epidemiological association with rodents,some arenaviruses and bunyaviruses are designated as roboviruses.
Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a diverse group of animal and human illnesses. VHFs may be caused by five distinct families of RNA viruses:the families Filoviridae,Flaviviridae,Rhabdoviridae,and several member families of the Bunyavirales order such as Arenaviridae,and Hantaviridae. All types of VHF are characterized by fever and bleeding disorders and all can progress to high fever,shock and death in many cases. Some of the VHF agents cause relatively mild illnesses,such as the Scandinavian nephropathia epidemica,while others,such as Ebola virus,can cause severe,life-threatening disease.
Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) is a rodent-borne viral infectious disease that presents as aseptic meningitis,encephalitis or meningoencephalitis. Its causative agent is lymphocytic choriomeningitis mammarenavirus (LCMV),a member of the family Arenaviridae. The name was coined by Charles Armstrong in 1934.
Venezuelan hemorrhagic fever (VHF) is a zoonotic human illness first identified in 1989. The disease is most prevalent in several rural areas of central Venezuela and is caused by Guanarito mammarenavirus (GTOV) which belongs to the Arenaviridae family. The short-tailed cane mouse is the main host for GTOV which is spread mostly by inhalation of aerosolized droplets of saliva,respiratory secretions,urine,or blood from infected rodents. Person-to-person spread is possible,but uncommon.
Orungo virus (ORUV) is an arbovirus of the genus Orbivirus,the subfamily Sedoreovirinae and the family Reoviridae. There are four known subtypes of Orungo virus designated Orungo-1 (ORUV-1),Orungo-2 (ORUV-2),Orungo-3 (ORUV-3),and Orungo-4 (ORUV-4). It was first isolated by the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe,Uganda by Oyewale Tomori and colleagues. Antibodies to the virus have been found in humans,monkeys,sheep,and cattle.
An emerging infectious disease (EID) is an infectious disease whose incidence has increased recently,and could increase in the near future. The minority that are capable of developing efficient transmission between humans can become major public and global concerns as potential causes of epidemics or pandemics. Their many impacts can be economic and societal,as well as clinical. EIDs have been increasing steadily since at least 1940.
Clarence James Peters,Jr is a physician,field virologist and former U.S. Army colonel. He is noted for his efforts in trying to stem epidemics of exotic infectious diseases such as the Ebola virus,Hanta virus and Rift Valley fever (RVF). He is an eminent authority on the virology,pathogenesis and epidemiology of hemorrhagic fever viruses.
Aniru Sahib Sahib Conteh was a Sierra Leonean physician and expert on the clinical treatment of Lassa fever,a viral hemorrhagic fever endemic to West Africa caused by the Lassa virus. Conteh studied medicine at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and taught at Ibadan Teaching Hospital. He later returned to Sierra Leone where he joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Lassa fever program at Nixon Methodist Hospital in Segbwema,first as superintendent and then as clinical director.
Marburg virus (MARV) is a hemorrhagic fever virus of the Filoviridae family of viruses and a member of the species Marburg marburgvirus,genus Marburgvirus. It causes Marburg virus disease in primates,a form of viral hemorrhagic fever. The World Health Organization (WHO) rates it as a Risk Group 4 Pathogen. In the United States,the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ranks it as a Category A Priority Pathogen and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists it as a Category A Bioterrorism Agent. It is also listed as a biological agent for export control by the Australia Group.
In 2014,an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) occurred. Genome sequencing has shown that this outbreak was not related to the 2014–15 West Africa Ebola virus epidemic,but was of the same EBOV species. It began in August 2014 and was declared over in November of that year,after 42 days without any new cases. This is the 7th outbreak there,three of which occurred during the period of Zaire.
There is a cure for the Ebola virus disease that is currently approved for market the US government has inventory in the Strategic National Stockpile. For past and current Ebola epidemics,treatment has been primarily supportive in nature.
On 11 May 2017,the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having one Ebola-related death.
Jean-Paul Joseph Gonzalez is a French virologist. He graduated from the Medical School of Bordeaux University France.
Patricia Ann Webb was a microbiologist known for her work in characterising and classifying severe contagious diseases including Machupo,Lassa and Ebola viruses.
On 7 February 2021,the Congolese health ministry announced that a new case of Ebola near Butembo,North Kivu had been detected the previous day. The case was a 42-year-old woman who had symptoms of Ebola in Biena on 1 February 2021. A few days after,she died in a hospital in Butembo. The WHO said that more than 70 people who had contact with the woman had been tracked.
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