Calabazo virus explained

Calabazo virus is an enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA hantavirus species of the order Bunyavirales. It is a novel New World microtine rodent-borne hantavirus discovered in Central America on the Azuero Peninsula of Panama in early 2000. Human infection with Calabazo virus results in respiratory illness similar to Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome but it is not severe or fatal and rarely requires hospitalization.^[1]

Reservoir

Calabazo virus was identified in the cane mouse (Zygodontomys brevicauda).^[2]

Transmission

Calabazo virus has not been shown to transfer from person-to-person. Transmission by aerosolized rodent excreta still remains the only known way the hantaviruses are transmitted to humans. In general, droplet and/or fomite transfer has not been shown in these viruses in either the hemorrhagic or pulmonary forms.^{[3] [4] [5]}

See also

• Choclo virus
• Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
• 1993 Four Corners hantavirus outbreak

External links

• CDC's Hantavirus Technical Information Index page
• Viralzone: Hantavirus
• Virus Pathogen Database and Analysis Resource (ViPR): Hantaviridae
• Occurrences and deaths in North and South America

Notes and References

1. Armien . B . Pascale . JM . Bayard . V . Munoz . C . Mosca . I . Guerrero . G . Armien . A . Quiroz . E . Castillo . Z . Zaldivar . Y . Gracia . F . Hjelle . B . Koster . F . Jun 2004 . High seroprevalence of hantavirus infection on the Azuero peninsula of Panama . Am J Trop Med Hyg . 70 . 6. 682–7 . 10.4269/ajtmh.2004.70.682 . 15211014 . free .
2. Richard Ostfeld. Lyme disease: the ecology of a complex system. Oxford University Press October, 2010.
3. Peters. C.J.. 2006. Emerging Infections: Lessons from the Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers. Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association. 117. 189–197. 1500910. 18528473.
4. Web site: Ebola and Marburg Virus Genomic Structure, Comparative and Molecular Biology. Crowley. J.. Crusberg. T.. Dept. of Biology & Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131015055654/http://www.mcb.uct.ac.za/ebola/ebolagen.html. 2013-10-15.
5. Bayard . Vicente . Kitsutani . Paul T. . Barria . Eduardo O. . Luis . A. Ruedas . etal . September 2004 . Outbreak of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Los Santos, Panama, 1999–2000 . Emerg Infect Dis . 10 . 9. 1635–1642 . 10.3201/eid1009.040143 . 15498167 . 3320309.