A unique virus causing a malaria-like illness has been discovered in Peru.
This ailment was first observed in a man in his twenties who displayed fever, chills, headaches, and muscle pain amongst other symptoms for two days and was later hospitalized due to it.
Physicians were initially unable to identify the mystery illness, but further tests unearthed a pathogen that was previously unknown.
Categorized as a phlebovirus, this virus leads to acute febrile – feverish – illnesses such as malaria and Rift Valley fever. If the Rift Valley fever becomes severe, it can cause hemorrhagic fever characterized by bleeding from the mouth, ears, eyes, and internal organs. Phleboviruses are usually spread by biting insects, such as sandflies, mosquitoes, or ticks.
While there are 66 species of phlebovirus, nine of these have been proven to cause febrile illnesses in Central and South America. In Peru, however, only three have been detected – Echarate virus (ECHV), Maldonado virus, and Candiru virus.
The virus, discovered in Hospital De La Merced Chanchamayo in 2019, does not resemble any previously known viruses. Instead, analysis suggests that the entirely new virus was created by an ECHV virus exchanging fragments of DNA with another virus in a ‘recombinant event’.
According to the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, elaborating on their findings, the authors warned that the virus is likely already circulating in the jungles of Peru and continuous monitoring is essential to control its spread. They also emphasized that the new disease closely resembles other tropical diseases, making it hard to identify.
‘Our findings suggest that a new ECHV variant is circulating in the jungle of central Peru,’ they stated. Further, they stressed the importance of biosurveillance to detect novel and emerging pathogens, and that patients with fever-causing illnesses should be carefully monitored to detect new diseases. This is done to protect the health of the population and US service members in affected areas in Peru.
Health experts in the UK have also called for the monitoring of patients with fever-causing illnesses to detect new and emerging diseases, according to MailOnline. The suggested articles include “New swine flu ‘of mystery origin’ as experts fear it has been spreading for weeks”, “Jab to save thousands of babies from life-threatening disease gets green light”, and “What is JN.1, the newest Covid-19 variant?”,
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