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About the Authors:
Katherine A. Sayler
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliations Department of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America, Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America, Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America, Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
Anthony F. Barbet
Affiliations Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America, Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
Casey Chamberlain
Affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
William L. Clapp
Affiliation: Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
Rick Alleman
Affiliation: Department of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
Julia C. Loeb
Affiliation: Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
John A. Lednicky
Affiliations Department of Environmental and Global Health, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America, Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
Introduction
Arenaviridae are a family of rodent and boid snake-associated, single stranded RNA viruses that currently (as of December, 2014) includes only one genus, Arenavirus. Twenty-nine distinct arenaviruses have been identified, many of which cause severe hemorrhagic fever (HF) in humans [1]. At least ten of these viruses are associated with human disease in many parts of the world including western Africa, Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela and Brazil [2]. Specifically, areanviruses have caused significant mortality in humid pampas of central Argentina, and multiple Old World arenaviruses cause morbidity in endemic foci in sub-Saharan Africa [3].
These viruses are divided into two serogroups based on shared antigens and geographic distribution:(a) Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis-Lassa virus (LCM-LAS) serocomplex viruses, or the Old World arenaviruses, and (b) Tacaribe serocomplex viruses, or the New World arenaviruses, (NWV) [4]. Though LCM virus has...