ABSTRACT
The family Arenaviridae comprises several RNA spherical to pleomorphic viruses, including various important causative agents of hemorrhagic fever in Africa and America. The prototype virus of this family, lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) has a worldwide distribution corresponding to the widespread presence of its reservoir, Mus musculus, and produces diseases in humans characterized by a febrile syndrome with occasional central nervous system (CNS) involvement. There are currently at least 19 arenaviruses recognized, but only six have been associated with human illness: in South America, Junin virus (Argentine hemorrhagic fever, AHF), Machupo virus (Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, BHF), Guanarito (Venezuelan hemorrhagic fever, VHF) and Sabia (hemorrhagic fever in Brazil); in Africa, Lassa virus (Lassa fever), and the above-mentioned LCM (Fig. 1, Table 1) (1).
