Brazilian hemorrhagic fever

Brazilian hemorrhagic fever (BzHF) is an infectious disease caused by Brazilian mammarenavirus, an arenavirus.^[4] Brazilian mammarenavirus is one of the arenaviruses from South America to cause hemorrhagic fever.^[5] It shares a common progenitor with Argentinian mammarenavirus, Machupo mammarenavirus, Tacaribe mammarenavirus, and Guanarito mammarenavirus.^[5] It is an enveloped RNA virus and is highly infectious and lethal.^[6] Very little is known about this disease, but it is thought to be transmitted by the excreta of rodents.^[4][6] This virus has also been implicated as a means for bioterrorism, as it can be spread through aerosols.^[7]

Brazilian hemorrhagic fever
Specialty	Infectious disease

Brazilian mammarenavirus
Virus classification
(unranked):	Virus
Realm:	Riboviria
Kingdom:	Orthornavirae
Phylum:	Negarnaviricota
Class:	Ellioviricetes
Order:	Bunyavirales
Family:	Arenaviridae
Genus:	Mammarenavirus
Species:	Brazilian mammarenavirus
Synonyms
Sabiá mammarenavirus[1] Sabiá virus[2] SPH 114202 virus[3]

As of 2019, there had only been four documented infections of Brazilian mammarenavirus: two occurred naturally, and the other two cases occurred in the clinical setting.^[8] The first naturally occurring case was in 1990, when a female agricultural engineer who was staying in the neighborhood of Jardim Sabiá in the municipality of Cotia, a suburb of São Paulo, Brazil contracted the disease (The virus is also known as "Sabiá Virus").^[9] She presented with hemorrhagic fever and died.^[4] Her autopsy showed liver necrosis.^[4] A virologist who was studying the woman's disease contracted the virus but survived.^[4] Ribavirin was not given in these first two cases.^[4] Four years later, in 1994, a researcher was exposed to the virus in a level 3 biohazard facility at Yale University when a centrifuge bottle cracked, leaked, and released aerosolized virus particles.^[4][10] He was successfully treated with ribavirin.^[4][11]

A fourth case, also naturally acquired in upstate São Paulo, was reported in January 2020.^[12] The patient died 12 days after the onset of symptoms.^[13]

Treatment

Ribavirin is thought to be effective in treating the illness, similar to other arenaviruses.^[4][11] Compared to the patients who did not receive ribavirin, the patient who was treated with it had a shorter and less severe clinical course.^[4] Symptomatic control such as fluids to address dehydration and bleeding may also be required.^[11]

Brazilian mammarenavirus is a biosafety Level 4 pathogen.^[6]

References

1. Siddell, Stuart (April 2017). "Change the names of 43 virus species to accord with ICVCN Code, Section 3-II, Rule 3.13 regarding the use of ligatures, diacritical marks, punctuation marks (excluding hyphens), subscripts, superscripts, oblique bars and non-Latin letters in taxon names" (ZIP). International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). Retrieved 29 April 2019.
2. Buchmeier, Michael J.; et al. (2 July 2014). "Rename one (1) genus and twenty-five (25) species in the family Arenaviridae" (PDF). International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). Retrieved 29 April 2019. Sabiá virus Sabiá mammarenavirus Sabiá virus
3. ICTV 7th Report van Regenmortel, M.H.V., Fauquet, C.M., Bishop, D.H.L., Carstens, E.B., Estes, M.K., Lemon, S.M., Maniloff, J., Mayo, M.A., McGeoch, D.J., Pringle, C.R. and Wickner, R.B. (2000). Virus taxonomy. Seventh report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Academic Press, San Diego. p638 https://ictv.global/ictv/proposals/ICTV%207th%20Report.pdf
4. Barry, M.; Russi, M.; Armstrong, L.; Geller, D.; Tesh, R.; Dembry, L.; Gonzalez, J. P.; Khan, A. S.; Peters, C. J. (1995). "Treatment of a Laboratory-Acquired Sabiá Virus Infection". N Engl J Med. 333 (5): 317–318. doi:10.1056/NEJM199508033330505. PMID 7596373.
5. GONZALEZ, JEAN PAUL J. (1996). "Genetic Characterization and Phylogeny of Sabiá Virus, an Emergent Pathogen in Brazil". Virology. 221 (2): 318–324. doi:10.1006/viro.1996.0381. PMID 8661442.
6. "NRT Quick Reference Guide: Brazilian Hemorrhagic Fever (BzHF)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
7. "Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers and Bioterrorism" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
8. Ellwanger JH, Chies JA (2017). "Keeping track of hidden dangers - The short history of the Sabiá virus". Rev. Soc. Bras. Med. Trop. 50 (1): 3–8. doi:10.1590/0037-8682-0330-2016. PMID 28327796.
9. "Vírus que causa febre hemorrágica foi registrada pela primeira vez em Cotia nos anos 90". Cotia e Cia | Aqui a notícia chega primeiro. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
10. Gandsman, E. J.; Aaslestad, H. G.; Ouimet, T. C.; Rupp, W. D. (1997). "Sabia virus incident at Yale University". American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal. 58 (1): 51–3. doi:10.1080/15428119791013080. PMID 9018837.
11. "Sabia Virus".
12. "Arenavírus: caso confirmado de febre hemorrágica no estado de São Paulo". Ministério da Saúde. Retrieved 2020-01-20.
13. [No authors listed]. "Identificação de um caso de febre hemorrágica brasileira no estado de São Paulo, janeiro de 2020" (PDF). Boletim Epidemiológico. 51 (3): 1–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-01-25. Retrieved 2020-01-20.

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