''Bayou orthohantavirus'' (BAYV) is a species of ''

Orthohantavirus ''Orthohantavirus'' is a genus of single-stranded, enveloped, negative-sense RNA viruses in the family ''Hantaviridae'' within the order ''Bunyavirales''. Members of this genus may be called orthohantaviruses or simply hantaviruses. Orthohantavi ...

'' first identified in 1993 in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. and later confirmed by other investigators. In 1996, the

marsh rice rat The marsh rice rat (''Oryzomys palustris'') is a semiaquatic North American rodent in the family Cricetidae. It usually occurs in wetland habitats, such as swamps and salt marshes. It is found mostly in the eastern and southern United States, fr ...

was identified as the

natural reservoir In infectious disease ecology and epidemiology, a natural reservoir, also known as a disease reservoir or a reservoir of infection, is the population of organisms or the specific environment in which an infectious pathogen naturally lives and rep ...

of the virus, indicating the virus to be widespread throughout the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

. BAYV infection causes

hantavirus pulmonary syndrome Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is one of two potentially fatal syndromes of zoonotic origin caused by species of hantavirus. These include Black Creek Canal virus (BCCV), New York orthohantavirus (NYV), Monongahela virus (MGLV), ''Sin Nomb ...

(HPS) and represents the second most common hantavirus in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

behind the ''

Sin Nombre orthohantavirus ''Sin Nombre orthohantavirus'' (SNV) (from Spanish, meaning "without a name") is the prototypical etiologic agent of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS). Discovered in 1993 near the Cañon de la Muerte on the Navajo Reservation, it was o ...

''.

References

Hantaviridae {{Virus-stub