Conception of the study: Miriam Andrada Sas had contributed together with others under the lead of Ousmane Maiga.
Developed the assays: Miriam Andrada Sas
Performed the experiments: Miriam Andrada Sas had contributed together with others under the lead of Ousmane Maiga.
Wrote the manuscript: Maiga O, Sas MA, Rosenke K, Kamissoko B, Mertens M, Sogoba N, Traore A, Sangare M, Niang M, Schwan TG, Maiga HM, Traore SF, Feldmann H,Safronetz D, Groschup MH
Manuscript II:
Conception of the study: Sas MA, Mertens M, Groschup MH, Mamy BOEL, Doumbia B Performed the experiments: Sas MA, Mertens M, Mamy BOEL, Isselmou E
Analyzed the data: Sas MA, Mertens M, Reimer N, Groschup MH
Wrote the manuscript: Sas MA, Mertens M, Isselmou E, Reimer N, Mamy BOEL, Doumbia B, Groschup MH
Manuscript III:
Conception of the study: Sas MA, Mertens M, Groschup MH, Pongombo CPS, Maloba AGK
Performed the experiments: Sas MA, Mertens M, Kadiat JG
Analyzed the data: Sas M, Mertens M, Kadiat JG, Groschup MH
Wrote the manuscript: Sas MA, Mertens M, Kadiat JG, Schuster I, Pongombo CPS, Maloba AGK, Groschup MH
Manuscript IV:
Conception of the study: Mertens M, Sas MA, Groschup MH
Performed experiments: Mertens M, Sas MA, Scheuch D, Abah S, Wade A, Namegni RP Analyzed the data: Mertens M, Sas MA, Scheuch D, Schuster I, Staubach Ch,
Unger H, Souley A, Groschup MH
Wrote the manuscript: Mertens M, Sas MA, Staubach Ch, Groschup MH
Manuscript V:
Conception of study: Sas MA, Vina-Rodriguez A, Mertens M, Groschup MH Performed the experiments: Sas MA, Vina-Rodriguez A
Analyzed the data: Sas MA, Vina-Rodriguez A, Mertens M, Eiden M, Emmerich P, Chaintoutis SC, Mirazimi A, Groschup MH
Wrote the manuscript: Sas MA, Vina-Rodriguez A, Groschup MH
17 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, I thank Professor Dr. Martin H. Groschup for his advice and supervision. He gave me the opportunity to work at Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut where I participated in the research on CCHFV. He was always willing to give assistance whenever I had questions and guided me into the right direction. In all discussions about projects, manuscripts and the thesis my creativity was valued. I appreciate a lot that he gave me the chance to participate in the Sub-Sahara Project where I had the opportunity to work with outstanding scientists from many different countries. I would like to thank him very much for all his help and extraordinary commitment, especially in the last weeks when time was running short. It was an honor and great pleasure to work in your team and under your supervision.
Furthermore, I would like to mention Dr. Marc Mertens who guided me during my whole PhD time. He introduced me to all important topics of CCHFV diagnosis and epidemiology. I am very grateful for his advice during the last three years. He helped me to develop my scientific writing skills. I want to thank him very much for the fruitful collaboration on several manuscripts.
Moreover, I would like to give my gratitude to Ariel Vina-Rodriguez for his extraordinary effort and help with the development of the CCHFV RT-qPCR. However basic my questions on molecular biology and PCR development were, he always made time for answering them.
It was a great experience to work together with him. Many thanks also to Dr. Martin Eiden for our discussions related to PCR and his advice on the evaluation of the final results for the manuscript.
I also address my special gratitude to all partners for the fruitful collaboration. It was a great experience to work together with you on these very interesting topics.
Special thanks are also warranted to Isolde Schuster for great three years together as PhD students in the CCHFV lab and for all the fun we had. This warm atmosphere was additionally provided by Carolin Rüdiger, Martina Abs and Jaqueline Mentz. Thank you also very much for your excellent technical support.
Looking back over the past three and a half years, many people supported my PhD studies and some of them also became dear friends I can always count on. This is true in particular for Dr. Christoph Gertler, Dr. Dorothee Scheuch, Rebecca König, René Schöttner and Arian Köhler. Thank you all so much for being who you are and your company, support and motivation during this time.
My very special thanks go to Dr. Christoph Gertler and Jochen Werner for proofreading of my thesis and their advice and to Nicole Reimer for creating and modifying maps for the manuscripts and the thesis together with me in very short time.
Also outside of the laboratory many dear friends provided me with their moral support. You were never tired to listen to my research stories about science working fine and, well, not so fine. Cooking, playing frisbee, playing music or just spending time together – no matter what, it was the right balance to long days in the laboratory. Thank you all so much!
Most of all I thank my mother, father, grandmother and fiancé who have always been there for me when I needed them. I am very grateful that my family gave me the opportunity to study veterinary medicine. You believed in me and supported all my decisions. I would not have been able to come so far without your encouragement. We achieved this together.