Keeping track of hidden dangers - The short history of the Sabiá virus

Abstract Emerging infectious diseases are a global threat. In countries like Brazil, where biodiversity is high and public health conditions in terms of infrastructure and medical care are often precarious, emerging diseases are particularly worrisome. The lack of monitoring strategies to identify pathogens with the potential to cause outbreaks or epidemics is another problem in Brazil and other developing countries. In this article, we present the history of the Sabiá virus (SABV), a pathogen that was described in the 1990s in Brazil. Several aspects of the biology and ecology of the SABV remain unknown. The SABV has the potential to cause hemorrhagic fever in humans. To date, four cases of human infections have been reported worldwide; two were naturally acquired (both in Brazil), whereas the other two were linked to occupational exposure in the laboratory environment (one in Brazil and one in the USA). In this review, we summarize the basic biological and ecological characteristics of the SABV. This is the first work to gather all available data on the historical aspects involving the cases of SABV infection along with an update on its characteristic features.

Isolamento no território federal do Amapá de um vírus nôvo relacionado sorològicamente aos agentes responsáveis pelas febres hemorrágicas da Argentina e da Bolívia / Isolation in the Federal Territory of Amapá of a new virus serologically related to the agents responsible for hemorrhagic fever in Argentina and Bolivia

Um nôvo membro do grupo Tacaribe, o vírus Amapari, tem sido inoculado repetidas vêzes das vísceras e sangue de Oryzomys e Neacomys, capturados em SN, Território Federal do Amapá. Um único isolamento foi obtido da urina das crias e de ectoparasitos dêsses animais. Os autores analisam algumas implicações ecológicas, bem como do ponto de vista de patogenicidade humana do referido agente. Referem, ainda, a importância da prova de FC’ como recurso de grande valor no isolamento dêste vírus, uma vez que os camundongos inoculados com os espécimens provenientes de animais infectados freqüentemente desenvolvem infecção inaparente.

A new member of the Tacaribe group, Amapari virus, has been repeatedly isolated from the viscera and blood of rodents belonging to the genera Oryzomys and Neacomys captured in the Serra do Navio region, Federal Territory of Amapá, Brazil. Single isolations were also obtained from the urine, young, and ectoparasites of these animals. The authors discuss certain aspects of the epizootiology of the above mentioned virus, with special reference to its pathogenicity in man. They also refer the importance of FC’ test as a tool of great value for isolation of this virus, since mice inoculated with specimens obtained from infected animals frequently develop inapparent infection.