Deadly Bleeding Virus, Previously Unknown, Identified in Study
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A previously unknown virus that killed four of the five people it struck in an outbreak in South Africa last year has been identified as part of a family of viruses humans can catch from rats.
The virus, named Lujo, is an arenavirus that over the course of nine days caused rash, fever, muscle pain, diarrhea, severe bleeding, vomiting, organ failure and death, said Nivesh Sewlall, who treated the first patient at Johannesburg’s Morningside MediClinic Hospital. He reported the findings at an infectious disease conference in San Francisco today.