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Brazilian hemorrhagic fever

Infectious disease caused by Sabiá virus From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Brazilian hemorrhagic fever (BzHF) is an infectious disease caused by Sabiá virus, an arenavirus.[5] Sabiá virus is one of the arenaviruses from South America to cause hemorrhagic fever.[6] It shares a common progenitor with Junín virus, Machupo virus, Tacaribe virus, and Guanarito virus.[6] It is an enveloped RNA virus and is highly infectious and lethal.[7] Very little is known about this disease, but it is thought to be transmitted by the excreta of rodents.[5][7] This virus has also been implicated as a means for bioterrorism, as it can be spread through aerosols.[8]

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As of 2019, there had only been four documented infections of Sabiá virus: two occurred naturally, and the other two cases occurred in the clinical setting.[9] 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.[10] She presented with hemorrhagic fever and died.[5] Her autopsy showed liver necrosis.[5] A virologist who was studying the woman's disease contracted the virus but survived.[5] Ribavirin was not given in these first two cases.[5] 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.[5][11] He was successfully treated with ribavirin.[5][12]

A fourth case, also naturally acquired in upstate São Paulo, was reported in January 2020.[13] The patient died 12 days after the onset of symptoms.[14]

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Treatment

Ribavirin is thought to be effective in treating the illness, similar to other arenaviruses.[5][12] Compared to the patients who did not receive ribavirin, the patient who was treated with it had a shorter and less severe clinical course.[5] Symptomatic control such as fluids to address dehydration and bleeding may also be required.[12]

Sabiá virus is a biosafety Level 4 pathogen.[7]

References

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