Andes virus

Taxobox
name = "Andes virus"
virus_group = v
familia = "Bunyaviridae"
genus = "Hantavirus"
species = "Andes virus"

Andes virus (ANDV) is a hantavirus, which, in South America, is a major causative agent of Hantavirus Cardiopulmonary Syndrome (HCPS or HPS).

Background

HCPS due to the Andes virus infection, has a case fatality percentage of about 25-35% in Argentinacite news|author=Paula Padula|publisher=Buenos Aires|title=Personal Communication] and of 37% in Chile.cite news|author=Government of Chile|title=Ministry of Health, 2005] ANDV, lineage ANDV-Sout, is the only hantavirus for which a person-to-person transmission has been described.cite news|author=Padula et al|title=2005, 1998] cite news|author=Toro et al|title=1998] cite news|author=Wells et al|title=1998] Several ANDV strains are co-circulating in Argentina, e.g. Bermejo, Lechiguanas, Maciel, Oran and Pergaminocite news|author=Padula et al|title=2000, 2002] , whereas HCPS cases were also reported in Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Only for Chile and Argentina can they be strictly associatedwith ANDV.

In Argentina and Chile, the long-tailed rice rat, "Oligoryzomys longicaudatus", and other species of the genus "Oligoryzomys" represent the reservoir for ANDV.cite news|author=Wells et al|title=1997] cite news|author=Levis et al|title=1998] cite news|author=Cantoni et al|title=2001] Another unique characteristic of ANDV is the availability of an animal model. ANDV causes lethal disease in the Syrian Hamster that closely models the course of disease progression in humans, including a rapid progression from first symptoms to death, including fluid in the pleural cavity and the histopathology of the lungs and spleen. cite news|author=Hooper et al|title=2001] Lethality of ANDV in hamsters is not true of all HCPS viruses, as challenge with Sin Nombre virus shows no symptoms of disease.cite news |author=Hooper et al |title=2001] The availability of this model allows for the study of various drugs and other treatments that may have an impact on the treatment of all HCPS-causing hantavirus infections.

ee also

*Hantavirus
*Sin Nombre virus

References