CHAPARE VIRUS
CONTEXT:
- Scientists have now discovered another deadly virus, known as the Chapare virus, in Bolivia.
- The biggest outbreak of the ‘Chapare virus’ was reported in 2019, when three healthcare workers contracted the illness from two patients in the Bolivian capital of La Paz.
ABOUT CHAPARE VIRUS
- The Chapare hemorrhagic fever (CHHF) is caused by the same arenavirus family that is responsible for illnesses such as the Ebola virus disease (EVD).
- Chapare virus are generally carried by rats and can be transmitted through direct contact with the infected rodent, its urine and droppings, or through contact with an infected person.
- The virus, which is named Chapare after the province in which it was first observed, causes a hemorrhagic fever much like Ebola along with abdominal pain, vomiting, bleeding gums, skin rash and pain behind the eyes.
- Viral hemorrhagic fevers are a severe and life-threatening kind of illness that can affect multiple organs and damage the walls of blood vessels.
- However, not a lot is known about the mysterious Chapare virus. Scientists believe that the virus could have been circulating in Bolivia for many years, even before it was formally documented.
THREAT POSED BY THE CHAPARE VIRUS
- Scientists have pointed out that the Chapare virus is much more difficult to catch than the coronavirus as it is not transmissible via the respiratory route. Instead, Chapare spreads only through direct contact with bodily fluids.
- The people who are particularly at risk of contracting the illness are healthcare workers and family members who come in close contact with infected people.
- The disease is also known to be most commonly transmitted in more tropical regions, particularly in certain parts of South America where the small-eared pigmy rice rat is commonly found.