New Hemorrhagic Fever-Associated Arenavirus from Africa Identified

Scientists have identified a new lethal virus in Africa that causes bleeding like the dreaded Ebolavirus.

Called the Lujo virus (LUJV), it is a new member of the family Arenaviridae and was isolated in South Africa during an outbreak of human disease characterized by nosocomial transmission and a high case fatality rate of 80% (4/5 cases).

Investigators in Africa thought that the illness might be Ebola, because some of the patients had bleeding in the gums and around needle injection sites, said Stuart Nichol, chief of the molecular biology lab in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia (CDC; Atlanta, GA) special pathogens branch. Other symptoms included fever, shock, coma, and organ failure.

Pyrosequencing of RNA extracts from serum and tissues of the victims enabled identification and detailed phylogenetic characterization within 72 hours of sample receipt. Full genome analyses of LUJV showed it to be unique and branching off the ancestral node of the Old World arenaviruses. It is distantly related to Lassa virus, another viral pathogen found in Africa.

It's not clear how the first person became infected, but the virus belongs to a family of viruses found in rodents, said Dr. Ian Lipkin, an epidemiologist involved in the discovery of the virus from the Center for Infection and Immunity, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University (New York, NY, USA).

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University