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Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have discovered that a rare virus in Bolivia, which can cause hemorrhagic fever, is transmitted from person to person, reports The Guardian. The new pathogen is part of the family of viruses that includes Ebola.
Researchers say that two patients transmitted the Chapare virus to two health workers in the Bolivian capital La Paz. One of the patients, as well as the two doctors, later passed away. So far, only a small outbreak of this dangerous virus has been documented in the Chapare region about 600 kilometers from La Paz in 2004.
“We confirmed that a young resident, an ambulance doctor and a gastroenterologist contracted the virus after several contacts with sick patients. Two of the doctors died. We believe the virus is spread through contact with various bodily fluids, “said Catilin Cossaboom, an epidemiologist with the CDC’s division of pathogens and pathology.
The virus, whose carriers could be rats, was transmitted to humans through these rodents. In general, viruses that are transmitted only through body fluids are easier to control than those that cause respiratory conditions, such as SARS-CoV-2.
Cossaboom also said that the new virus causes fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, bleeding gums, hives and pain behind the eyes. Given the limited information in this regard, there is still no specific treatment, so patients can only receive basic care.
The findings were presented Monday at the annual conference of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The researchers say that the virus may have been circulating undetected for a few years and could easily be misdiagnosed as Denga fever, a virus with similar symptoms.
Editor: Adrian Dumitru
