''Flexal mammarenavirus'' (also known as the Flexal virus or FLEV, and previously known by the laboratory code BeAn 293022) is a
mammarenavirus
''Mammarenavirus'' is a genus of viruses in the family ''Arenaviridae''. The name is a portmanteau of mammal and the former name ''Arenavirus'', and differentiates it from the reptile-associated ''Reptarenavirus''. ''Arenavirus'' comes from the ...
: an
arenavirus
An arenavirus is a bisegmented ambisense RNA virus that is a member of the family ''Arenaviridae''. These viruses infect rodents and occasionally humans. A class of novel, highly divergent arenaviruses, properly known as reptarenaviruses, have ...
with a mammalian host. It was first found in semiaquatic rodents of the genus
Oryzomys
''Oryzomys'' is a genus of semiaquatic rodents in the tribe Oryzomyini living in southern North America and far northern South America. It includes eight species, two of which—the marsh rice rat (''O. palustris'') of the United States and ...
in
tropical forest
Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds.
Some tropical fore ...
in the
Pará
Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana ...
area of
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
It is a member of Clade A of the Tacaribe (or "New World") serocomplex of the family ''Arenaviridae''.
Laboratory workers infected by Flexal virus have exhibited febrile illness.
[Flexal virus is listed as a UN 2814 Category A infectious substance.]
References
External links
* https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/AF512831
* https://wwwn.cdc.gov/arbocat/VirusDetails.aspx?ID=148&SID=7
Arenaviridae
Viral diseases
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