Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (VHFs)

Types | Plague | Anthrax | Smallpox | Possibilities

Causes/Info

• There are several types of viruses that cause a hemorrhagic fever.
  • Arenviruses

Image, above: Vero E6 tissue culture cell infected with an arenavirus. Image shows extracellular virus particles budding from the cell surface. Magnification approx. 12,000 times.
Image courtesy Cynthia Goldsmith, MS, Infectious Disease Pathology Activity, DVRD, NCID, CDC.

Image courtesy of CDC

• Filoviruses (including Ebola)



Image courtesy of CDC

• Bunyaviruses
• Flaviviruses
• All are RNA viruses enveloped in a lipid coating
• All are zoonotic (naturally reside in an animal reservoir host or arthropod vector)

Transmission

• Human contact with urine, fecal matter, saliva or other body excretions from infected rodents
• Secondary transmission between humans occurs through close contact with infected individuals or with bodily fluids from infected individuals

Symptoms

• Initial: fever, fatigue, dizziness, muscle aches, loss of strength and exhaustion
• Severe symptoms include bleeding under the skin, internal organs bleeding, bleeding around orifices, sometimes kidney failure

© 2003 Jay Farmer, J.P. Oehrtman, and Tim Maluvac. All rights reserved, except for the images, which retain their own copyrights.

This site is designed by Jay Farmer, J.P. Oehrtman, and Tim Maluvac for MBI 699.W.

Last modified: August 7, 2003

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