Moussa Douno, MD, MPH, MS

Moussa Douno initially trained as a medical doctor in Guinea. The Ebola outbreak, which severely affected his country between 2013 and 2015, and the social conflicts that marred the response, sparked his interest in the social sciences and their application to health issues. Moussa completed a master’s degree in public health with a focus on social and behavioral sciences at the University of Ghana, and a master’s degree in medical anthropology at Brunel University in London. He contributed to the Lassa arenavirus (LASV) research of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and was also involved in an anthropological study of human-animal cohabitation in a rural Guinea region where Lassa fever is endemic. In this context, he authored a study of the often unacknowledged ways in which children come into contact with infected rodents, through hunting and consumption. His current research explores the history of scientific research on Lassa fever, as well as discourses around the scientific notion of “disease hotspots” in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia with different—and heretofore unexplained—incidences of Lassa.

Selected Publications:

• with Alexandre Delamou, Alison M. El Ayadi, Aissatou Diallo, Thérèse Delvaux, and Vincent de Brouwere. “Stakeholders’ Perceptions on Improving Women’s Health after Obstetric Fistula Repair: Results from a Qualitative Study in Guinea.” African Journal of Reproductive Health 26, no. 8 (September 2022): 30–40. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajrh/article/view/231897.
• with Rebekah Wood, Umaru Bangura, Joachim Mariën, and Elisabeth Fichet-Calvet. “Detection of Lassa Virus in Wild Rodent Feces: Implications for Lassa Fever Burden within Households in the Endemic Region of Faranah, Guinea.” One Health 13 (December 2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2021.100317.
• with Julia Clark, Laith Yakob, Joseph Lamine, N’Faly Magassouba, Elisabeth Fichet-Calvet, and Almudena Mari Saez. “Domestic Risk Factors for Increased Rodent Abundance in a Lassa Fever Endemic Region of Rural Upper Guinea.” Scientific Reports 11 (October 2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00113-z.
• with Alexandre Delamou, Patrice Bouédouno, Sita Millimono, Thierno H. Barry, Vandana Tripathi, and Moustapha Diallo. “Social Immersion for Women after Repair for Obstetric Fistula: An Experience in Guinea.” Frontier Global Women's Health 2 (September 2021). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34816239/.
• with Emmanuel Asampong, N’Faly Magassouba, Elisabeth Fichet-Calvet, and Almudena Mari Saez. “Hunting and Consumption of Rodents by Children in the Lassa Fever Endemic Area of Faranah, Guinea.” PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 15, no. 3 (March 2021). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009212.