Little-known virus, Chapare, worries scientists in Bolivia

Illustrative image of a scientific research laboratory.

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In mid-November, specialists in tropical diseases met at a virtual conference of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

They brought up the case of Chapare, tells Futura Sciences, a virus still poorly understood, which killed three people in Bolivia.

It was in 2019, at the La Paz hospital.

Patients were admitted with symptoms similar to Ebola hemorrhagic fever: fevers, abdominal pain, vomiting and bleeding gums.

They are carriers of the Chapare virus, which appeared for the first time in 2004 in Bolivia.

An identified natural reservoir

During their stay in hospital, these patients infected five caregivers.

In total, three people died.

Other cases were subsequently observed, including one in a child.

Scientists still know very little about this virus, for which no specific treatment exists, other than that it is transmitted by contaminated biological fluids (blood, urine, saliva, semen).

The researchers had, however, managed to identify a potential natural reservoir of the virus in 2019: pygmy rice paddy rats.

They are now working on tests to accurately diagnose this emerging infectious disease, to be monitored closely in the coming years.

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