Scientists have uncovered a new deadly virus which has caused the death of at least one person in rural Bolivia.
A new virus,discovered by scientists, has been found to be spread by rodents. Photo: Brown Rat. Credit: NPS
Teams from the Bolivian health authority, U.S. Navy health experts and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have isolated the new virus named Chapare arenavirus after the Chapare River in the Andes.
Spread by rodents, the arenavirus is similar to other viruses in the New World such as the Junin, Machupo, Guanarito, and Sabia viruses however remains genetically different.
The finding of the pathogen in such a remote region has given researchers little knowledge of its effects however it is believed it causes bleeding and shock and has resulted in the death of one Bolivian man.
“Further surveillance and ecological investigations should clarify the nature of the health threat posed by the Chapare virus, and give us better information on the source of human infection,” says CDC virologist Tom Ksiazek of the Special Pathogens Branch.
“We need to learn more about this virus: how it is related to the other arenaviruses, how it causes disease, where it lives in nature,” says Ksiazek. “Together with our colleagues in Bolivia and Peru, we’re anticipating a more intensive investigation that improves our understanding of the virus, the disease it causes, and its ecology.”
The teams' findings have been published in the Public Library of Science Journal PLoS Pathogens.
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