Bolivian “Ebola-like” virus causing sparks fears of new epidemic

At the beginning of the year, the coronavirus pandemic caught the world by surprise, forcing countries around the world to deal with an unknown and lethal disease that may cause permanent changes to our global way of life. Latin America has been hit particularly hard by Covid-19, with the region of South America declared the world’s pandemic epicenter in May. Six months on, the coronavirus has infected over 12 million Latin Americans and killed up to 412,000 people. 

The intensity and lethality of the coronavirus crisis showed that humanity is not as prepared for the consequences of viral pandemics as it once thought. Now, experts are doubling their efforts toward identifying potentially spreadable diseases before epidemics and pandemics occur. And in Bolivia, scientists have identified a new enemy to human health.

In the latest annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) on November 17, the organization declared it had found evidence of human transmission of the rat-borne Chapare virus, which was found in three health...