Treatment of a Laboratory-Acquired Sabiá Virus Infection

Abstract

Arenaviruses are a group of RNA viruses several of which have the potential to cause a deadly syndrome of hemorrhagic fever. In humans these viruses are usually transmitted by exposure to infected rodent excreta; occasional laboratory or nosocomial infections have been reported. 1 Sabiá virus is an arenavirus that was first isolated in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1990 from an agricultural engineer who presented with a hemorrhagic fever syndrome and ultimately died. Necrosis of the liver was found at autopsy. The virus was subsequently characterized as a new member of the Tacaribe complex of the family Arenaviridae. 2 A laboratory technician in. © 1995, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.