Chapare Hemorrhagic Fever and Virus Detection in Rodents in Bolivia in 2019

BACKGROUND: In June 2019, the Bolivian Ministry of Health reported a cluster of cases of hemorrhagic fever that started in the municipality of Caranavi and expanded to La Paz. The cause of these cases was unknown. METHODS: We obtained samples for next-generation sequencing and virus isolation. Human and rodent specimens were tested by means of virus-specific real-time quantitative reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction assays, next-generation sequencing, and virus isolation. In survivors of CHHF, viral RNA was detected up to 170 days after symptom onset; CHAPV was isolated from a semen sample obtained 86 days after symptom onset. CONCLUSIONS: . (Funded by the Bolivian Ministry of Health and others.).