Researchers have found that a rare Ebola-like illness that is believed to have first originated in rural Bolivia in 2004 can spread through human-to-human transmission.


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Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have discovered that Chapare virus, which is a rare Ebola-like virus, that can spread from human to human. The illness caused by this virus first originated in rural Bolivia in 2004.


While researchers across the world are making all efforts to contain a second wave of coronavirus outbreaks, CDC researchers are now studying Chapare virus to see whether it is also as dangerous for humanity as coronavirus.


What is the Chapare virus?


The Chapare hemorrhagic fever (CHHF) is caused by the same arenavirus family which causes Ebola fever. According to researchers, rats are the carrier of Chapare virus and this deadly virus can be transmitted through direct contact with the infected rat, its urine and droppings. The virus also gets transmitted through contact with an infected person.


The virus is named Chapare after the province in which it was first observed. It is to be noted that not much is known about the Chapare virus but it is widely believed by researchers across the world that Chapare virus could have been circulating in Bolivia for many years. 


What CDC researchers discovered about the virus?


Few days ago, CDC researchers revealed during the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) that by examining Chapare outbreak in Bolivia in 2019, they found that the virus can spread from person to person.


“Our work confirmed that a young medical resident, an ambulance medic and a gastroenterologist all contracted the virus after encounters with infected patients — and two of these healthcare workers later died,” Caitlin Cossaboom, an epidemiologist with the CDC’s division of high-consequence pathogens and pathology said in a statement. “We now believe many bodily fluids can potentially carry the virus.”


According to the researchers, healthcare workers should remain on alert as thay are at higher risk of contracting the illness from Chapare virus. 


Fragments of RNA, associated with Chapare, were also found by CDC researchers in the semen of one survivor after he was infected. The researchers noted that the Chapare virus could also be sexually transmitted.“The genome sequence of the RNA we isolated in rodent specimens matches quite well with what we have seen in human cases,” Cossaboom said. 


Threat posed by the Chapare virus


Scientists said that it is not easy to detect Chapare virus as it is not transmissible via the respiratory route as it spreads only through direct contact with bodily fluids.