Never-before-seen virus sickens man in Peru: 20-year-old left with fever and crippling headaches after catching malaria-like illness

A new virus has been discovered in a 20-year-old man in Peru.

The patient, whose identity is not yet known, went to the hospital with complaints such as fever, chills and muscle and joint pain.

It is unclear whether the construction worker recovered from his illness.

But scientists, who took a blood sample from him to find out what was behind his symptoms, discovered a never-before-seen pathogen.

They called on health chiefs to monitor the viruses behind malaria-like symptoms so they can spot new infections and protect public health.

The virus is a phlebovirus, which can be spread by sand flies, mosquitoes or ticks.

Infections cause high fever, severe headaches, muscle aches and meningitis.

Rift Valley fever is the most well-known disease that the phlebovirus can cause. People who develop this can develop a life-threatening hemorrhagic fever, which causes bleeding from the mouth, eyes and ears, as well as from internal organs.

Until now, only three phleboviruses that cause fever had been found in Peru.

The patient appeared at De La Merced Chanchamayo Hospital in central Peru in June 2019. His symptoms included headache, fatigue, sensitivity to light and loss of appetite.

Doctors took a blood sample and sent it for laboratory testing.

Researchers from the US Naval Medical Research Unit in Lima analyzed the sample and discovered the Candiru phlebovirus.

However, parts of the virus showed differences from the Candiru virus that “could not be explained by virus mutation,” indicating that the man was infected with a new virus.

Analysis suggested that the pathogen was formed by recombining the Candiru virus with a new strain of the Echarate virus.

The team, led by research technician Gilda Troncos, said their findings indicate that a new variant of the Echarate virus is circulating in the jungles of central Peru.

The disease caused by the virus is similar to dengue, malaria and other tropical infections, they wrote in the journal Emerging infectious diseases.

Continued surveillance is needed among patients with these symptoms to detect new viruses and protect public health, the researchers warned.

They called for ecological studies to find out how widespread the new variant is in the region and to identify potential sources of infection.

In response to the new virus, health bosses in Britain renewed calls for patients with the fever-causing illness to be monitored.

The UK Health Security Agency said this 'necessary to detect new and emerging pathogens'.