Chapare Hemorrhagic Fever and Virus Detection in Rodents in Bolivia in 2019
Roxana Loayza Mafayle, Maria Morales-Betoulle, Carla Romero, Caitlin M. Cossaboom, Shannon Whitmer, C. Aguilera, Cinthia Avila Ardaya, M. Cruz Zambrana, Andrés Dávalos Anajia, Nelly Mendoza Loayza, Ana-Maria Montaño, Fernando L. Morales Alvis, Jimmy Revollo Guzmán, Sebastián Sasías Martínez, Gricel Alarcón De La Vega, Armando Medina Ramírez, Jhemis T. Molina Gutiérrez, Alex J. Cornejo Pinto, Renata Salas Bacci, Julia Brignone, Jorge B. García, Arletta Añez, Jairo Méndez‐Rico, Kléber Giovanni Luz, Ariel Segales, Karen M. Torrez Cruz, Adolfo Valdivia‐Cayoja, Brian R. Amman, Mary J. Choi, Bobbie-Rae Erickson, Cynthia S. Goldsmith, James Graziano, Allison Joyce, John D. Klena, Austin Leach, Jason H. Malenfant, Stuart T. Nichol, Ketan Patel, Tara K. Sealy, Trevor Shoemaker, Christina F. Spiropoulou, Alison M. Todres, Jonathan S. Towner, Joel M. Montgomery
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In June 2019, the Bolivian Ministry of Health reported a cluster of cases of hemorrhagic fever that started in the municipality of Caranavi and expanded to La Paz. The cause of these cases was unknown. METHODS: We obtained samples for next-generation sequencing and virus isolation. Human and rodent specimens were tested by means of virus-specific real-time quantitative reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction assays, next-generation sequencing, and virus isolation. RESULTS: ). In survivors of CHHF, viral RNA was detected up to 170 days after symptom onset; CHAPV was isolated from a semen sample obtained 86 days after symptom onset. CONCLUSIONS: . (Funded by the Bolivian Ministry of Health and others.).