Word: machupo
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Ebola is just one of several viruses to have emerged from the jungle in the past few decades; others include Lassa and Marburg in Africa, and Sabia, Junin and Machupo in South America. But the most insidious of all, of course, is the AIDS virus, HIV. It probably originated in Africa as well, but unlike Ebola, it was ideally suited to spread around the globe. It kills so slowly and leaves victims without symptoms for so long that they can infect many others before dying...
...question ceased to be, When will infectious diseases be wiped out? and became, Where will the next deadly new plague appear? Scientists are keeping a nervous watch on such lethal agents as the Marburg and Ebola viruses in Africa and the Junin, Machupo and Sabia viruses in South America. And there are uncountable threats that haven't even been named: a virus known only as "X" emerged from the rain forest in southern Sudan last year, killed thousands and disappeared. No one knows when it might arise again...
Even so, the accident has raised questions about whether such dangerous disease agents are being handled carefully enough. Sabia and several related viruses -- Junin, Machupo and Guanarito in South America and Lassa in Africa, all members of the arenavirus family -- are particularly frightening because they can kill in such a grisly way. Characteristic symptoms are high fever, uncontrolled bleeding in virtually every organ and finally shock. The liver turns yellow and decomposes. Blood can leak from literally every bodily orifice, including the eyes and the pores of the skin...
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