History The disease was first encountered in 1962, in the<unk>  village of San Joaquín, hence the name<unk> " Hemorrhagic Fever. When initial investigations failed to find an arthropod carrier, other sources were sought before finally determining that the disease was carried by infected mice. Although mosquitoes were not the cause as originally suspected, the extermination of mosquitoes using DDT to prevent malaria proved to be indirectly responsible for the outbreak in that the accumulation of DDT in various animals along the food chain led to a shortage of cats in the village; subsequently, a mouse plague erupted in the village, leading to an epidemic. Vectors The vector is the large vesper mouse (Calomys callosus), a rodent indigenous to northern<unk>  Infected animals are asymptomatic and shed the virus in excreta, thereby infecting humans. Evidence of person-to-person transmission of<unk>  exists but is believed to be rare. Symptoms The infection has a slow onset with fever, malaise, headache and myalgia, very similar to Malaria symptoms. Petechiae (blood spots) on the upper body and bleeding from the nose and gums are observed when the disease progresses to the hemorrhagic phase, usually within seven days of onset. Severe hemorrhagic or neurologic symptoms are observed in about one third of patients. Neurologic symptoms involve tremors, delirium, and convulsions. The mortality rate is about 25%. Prevention Measures to reduce contact between the vesper mouse and humans may have contributed to limiting the number of outbreaks, with no cases identified between 1973 and 1994. Although there are no cures or vaccine for the disease, a vaccine developed for the genetically related Junín virus which causes Argentine hemorrhagic fever has shown evidence of cross-reactivity to Machupo virus, and may therefore be an effective prophylactic measure for people at high risk of infection. Post infection (and providing that the person survives the infection), those that have contracted<unk>  are usually immune to further infection of the disease.
Bolivian hemorrhagic fever
Omsk hemorrhagic fever
Argentine hemorrhagic fever
Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever
Venezuelan hemorrhagic fever
Viral hemorrhagic fever
Dengue fever
West Nile fever