 | This is a user sandbox of Bgrace21. You can use it for testing or practicing edits. This is not the sandbox where you should draft your assigned article for a dashboard.wikiedu.org course. To find the right sandbox for your assignment, visit your Dashboard course page and follow the Sandbox Draft link for your assigned article in the My Articles section. |
I picked the Lujo virus because it seemed like I could add some useful things to the article, as it doesn't have a whole lot of information already.
I'd like to add some more information to existing sections like history and distribution. I also want to add sections on treatment and transmission.
From (History): http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/lujo/
There were only 5 known cases of Lujo hemorrhagic fever known, all were identified in 2008 in the months of September and October, and 4 were fatal. Those whose infections proved fatal only survived 10-13 days after the start of symptoms. The only surviving victim was treated with ribavirin. All four patients in which infection proved fatal first showed signs of improvement and then went into respiratory distress, displayed neurological problems, and had circulatory issues that resulted in collapse.
This was the first new virus discovered in 40 years. http://www.news-medical.net/news/20090602/Discovery-of-new-arenavirus-associated-with-hemorrhagic-fever-e28093-first-identified-in-nearly-four-decades.aspx
From (Transmission): http://www.virology.ws/2009/05/29/lujo-virus-a-new-hemorrhagic-fever-virus-from-southern-africa/
Viruses from the Arenaviridae family, the family that Lujo virus is apart of, almost always have a rodent reservoir and one virus from this family has a bat reservoir. Contact with an infected rodent host, it's urine or fecal matter, inhalation of dust with virus particles, or eating food containing remnants of the virus can result in human infection. Transmission can also occur via human-to-human contact, as evidenced by the 5 cases from 2008, but it is still not completely clear how the first case was contracted. Both bats and rodents should be considered possible contact points, just to be safe. Though it is not known for sure, it is speculated that the human-to-human transmission occurs from contact with bodily fluids. The incubation period is expected to be 7-13 days. http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/lujo/symptoms/index.html
From (Symptoms): http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/lujo/symptoms/index.html
VHF symptoms appear similar to other viruses of the same family, such as Lassa fever. The known symptoms include swelling in the neck and face, sore throat, diarrhea, and a rash resembling measles on the face and body. Blood tests of those infected revealed elevated liver values, white blood cell counts that were first low and then elevated over time, and low platelet counts.
From (Treatment): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25393244
In depth research into Lujo virus and it's treatment have been difficult because of the lack of economic and cultural stability of the regions where the only known cases have occurred. Treatment with ribavirin seemed to have cured the only surviving patient with Lujo Virus, but because the 5 affected in 2008 have been the only cases identified, there has not been much opportunity for further research.