At a time when countries around the world are struggling to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that a deadly virus can now also be transmitted, which causes hemorrhagic fever like Ebola. through people.
After the CDC’s announcement, sciencetimes.com quoted experts as saying that even in the event of an outbreak, Chapare was unlikely to cause a Covid-19-scale pandemic. However, he also warned that there was cause for alarm over a possible Chapare outbreak.
This is everything you need to know about Chapare hemorrhagic fever:
1. The Chapare virus was discovered for the first time in 2004 in the Bolivian province of Chapare, from where it takes its name. Although it disappeared in 2004, an outbreak last year infected at least five people.
2. Some symptoms of Chapare are fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, bleeding gums, skin rash and pain. Although the virus can be transmitted through bodily fluids and even kill infected people, sciencetimes.com reported that no active cases have been recorded this year.
3. In the 2019 outbreak, three of the five infected people were healthcare workers, of whom two died, sciencetimes.com further said.
4. The first sign of last year’s outbreak was found in the body fluid sample that doctors initially believed was dengue. However, additional tests showed no signs of dengue. Subsequently, tests were conducted for two other deadly hemorrhagic viruses: yellow fever and Machupo. The results, however, were negative again.
5. The virus was finally identified as Chapare after the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which was in partnership with the CDC, gave it a sample. The CDC also developed an RT-PCR test to diagnose the virus in the future.
6. It was this outbreak that showed that the virus could be spread from person to person. Additionally, experts say that the virus is present in a survivor’s semen for 24 weeks or 168 days after becoming infected.
7. The Chapare virus was also detected in rodents around the home of the first infected person. Experts, however, noted that this does not prove that rodents were the source of the outbreak.
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