Killer virus in South Africa identified
South African health officials have identified a viral hemorrhagic fever which killed four people in Johannesburg. They believe the bug is a new strain of the deadly arenavirus.
Vero E6 tissue culture cell infected with an arenavirus. Image shows extracellular virus particles budding from the cell surface. Magnification approx. 12,000 times. Image courtesy Cynthia Goldsmith, MS, Infectious Disease Pathology Activity, DVRD, NCID, CDC.
Epidemic curve of cases of infection with an arenavirus, South Africa, September – October 2008. Source: Special Pathogens Unit and Epidemiology Division, NICD; Gauteng Provincial Outbreak Response Team and partners; SA-FELTP residents; Department of Anatomical Pathology, University of the Witwatersrand and the National Health Laboratory Service. Image may be subject to copyright.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified the new strain, which has not been named yet. that has yet to be named, said Barry Schoub, executive director of the National Insititute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).
“The virus is new in terms of its genetic make up and there is currently no vaccine against it, [and has] high lethal potential for humans.” said Barry Schoub, executive director of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).
South Africa’s department of health first identified the disease in a woman who was airlifted from Zambia to a Johannesburg hospital in September, 2008. AFP reported.
The female patient, a member of the medical staff who accompanied her, a nurse and a hospital cleaner who came into contact with her, later died.
“A last person who is currently under observation at a hospital is responding well to (anti-viral) treatment,” said Janusz Paweska, head of a special pathogens unit at NICD.
What are the Arenaviridae? (Source CDC)
The Arenaviridae are a family of viruses whose members are generally associated with rodent-transmitted disease in humans. Each virus usually is associated with a particular rodent host species in which it is maintained. Arenavirus infections are relatively common in humans in some areas of the world and can cause severe illnesses.
The virus particles are spherical and have an average diameter of 110-130 nanometers. All are enveloped in a lipid (fat) membrane. Viewed in cross-section, they show grainy particles that are ribosomes acquired from their host cells. It is this characteristic that gave them their name, derived from the Latin “arena,” which means “sandy.” Their genome, or genetic material, is composed of RNA only, and while their replication strategy is not completely understood, we know that new viral particles, called virions, are created by budding from the surface of their hosts’ cells. (Source: CDC). Fact Sheet (PDF)
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