Deadly “Lujo’ Virus Discovered In Africa
Scientists have identified a lethal new virus in Africa that causes bleeding like the dreaded Ebola virus. The so-called “Lujo” virus infected five people in Zambia and South Africa last fall. Four of them died, but a fifth survived, perhaps helped by a medicine recommended by the scientists.
It’s not clear how the first person became infected, but the bug comes from a family of viruses found in rodents, said Dr. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University epidemiologist involved in the discovery.
“This one is really, really aggressive” he said of the virus.
A paper on the virus by Lipkin and his collaborators was published online Thursday on in PLoS Pathogens.
Deadly Dozen Diseases Could Have Dire Consequences
It listed the ‘deadly dozen’ as avian flu, tick-borne babesia, cholera, ebola, parasites, plague, lyme disease, Read more
