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Biosecurity News in Brief
Novel Strain of Arenavirus Circulating in South AfricaBy Christine SooHoo, November 3, 2008 On October 13, 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that 4 recent deaths in Zambia and South Africa resulted from infection with a novel strain of Arenavirus.1 The announcement follows laboratory tests conducted at the Special Pathogens Unit, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service in Johannesburg, South Africa, and at the Special Pathogens and Infectious Disease Pathology branches of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. This new strain of Arenavirus has claimed 3 lives in Zambia and 1 in South Africa. Symptoms of the disease include flulike symptoms that progressively worsen, diarrhea, sore throat, and a rash on the face and throat. While the virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever, the fatal cases did not involve significant bleeding. Officials say that ribavirin, an antiviral drug, appeared to help in treating the disease. Reuters reported on October 31, 2008, that the first infection, or index case, of the new virus strain was a woman who fell ill in Zambia and was transported on September 12, 2008, to South Africa for treatment.2 According to a second Reuters report on October 28, the paramedic and nurse who treated the woman also contracted the disease and subsequently died. South African officials are monitoring more than 100 people who may have come into contact with the initial 4 patients.3 However, the NICD believes that transmission of the virus is limited to “very close contact in a health-care setting.” NCID is confident that the outbreak has been contained and that no additional cases will emerge.2 References
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