I don’t have live access to the latest news right now. Here’s a concise update based on recent publicly available summaries up to my last check:
There has been ongoing research on Andes virus, including advances in vaccine approaches using mRNA platforms tested in animal models, with some studies noting protective effects in preclinical settings. This line of work aims to address a hantavirus with notable human-to-human transmission potential in certain outbreaks. [cited sources discuss UTMB's vaccine work and historical outbreak analyses ].[1][2][3][4]
In Argentina, past outbreaks of Andes virus have been characterized by significant transmission within communities and documented fatalities, informing current thinking about transmission dynamics and public health responses. Comprehensive analyses of those outbreaks have appeared in virology and epidemiology literature over the years..[3][4]
Public health agencies and researchers continue to monitor Andes virus in South America and evaluate implications for prevention, surveillance, and potential therapeutics, given its relative rarity but high case-fatality in past outbreaks. For updated, authoritative details, check sources such as CDC hantavirus pages and recent virology publications..[4][6]
If you’d like, I can pull in the very latest headlines and summarize them with links and brief takes. I can also tailor the update to Chicago-area readers or public health practitioners, and provide a quick explainer on how Andes virus differs from other hantaviruses. Would you like me to fetch the newest articles now?
Citations:
On November 2, 2018, a person-to-person transmission outbreak of Andes virus (Orthohantavirus andesense) began in the small town of Epuyén, Argentina. The strain demonstrated a high capacity for sustained transmission among the human population ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govNovel Strain of Andes Virus, Central Bolivia
wwwnc.cdc.govA recent study at the University of Texas Medical Branch, published in Nature Communications, has shown that an mRNA vaccine developed by UTMB scientists protects against Andes virus in an animal model.
www.utmb.edu'Super-spreader' events and extensive person-to-person contact propelled an outbreak of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in a small village in Argentina from 2018-2019, according to new research. An international scientific team reports the genetic, clinical, and epidemiologic features of the outbreak caused by the Andes virus, a member of the hantavirus family. Their analysis could aid in managing outbreaks of other viral diseases with similar transmission patterns, including COVID-19.
www.sciencedaily.comTo better describe the genetic diversity of hantaviruses associated with human illness in South America, we screened blood samples from febrile patients in Chapare Province in central Bolivia during 2008-2009 for recent hantavirus infection. Hantavirus RNA was detected in 3 patients, including 1 who …
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govA mRNA vaccine protects against Andes virus in an animal model, according to a new study by UTMB scientists. Andes virus is a prominent rodent-borne virus in South America and has human fatality rates up to 30 percent.
www.utmb.edu