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A new virus has been found in the peribunyaviridae family called the El huayo virus. El huayo virus was found from mosquitoes (specifically Culex portesi) in Iquitos, Peru. El huayo virus belongs to the orthobunayvirus genus, in the Group C serotype, of the peribunayviridae family [1]. Bunyaviridae used to be a family, but it is now an order called ‘bunayvirales’ due to a change that occurred in the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) classification system [2].

Usually, group C orthobunyaviruses are not linked with causing human illness; however, in the area where El huayo virus was isolated, dengue-like illnesses are quite common [1]. Initially, researchers were perplexed by this because Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, a common carrier for dengue virus, is not commonly found there [3]. Scientists are now beginning to believe that it is actually the presence of carriers of group C orthobunyaviruses in these areas that are causing this illnesses [1]. This theory has not been fully substantiated yet due to lack of proper diagnostic equipment, especially present in low-resource settings [4].

In addition, with regards to El huayo virus, researchers inquired whether or not it would be possible for this virus to replicate in a vertebrate host. In the experiment, Syrian hamsters were used as the host. Although El huayo virus was indeed able to replicate in the Syrian hamsters, it was not really pathogenic, as all of the hamsters displayed no signs after being observed for up to twenty one days post-infection [1]. Therefore, although the potential of El huayo virus infectivity towards humans remains largely unknown, dengue-like illnesses being present in areas, such as Peru, without a full explanation, is concerning, which is why research will be ongoing in this area for many years to come.

[1] http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0004440 [2] https://data.ictvonline.org/proposals/2016.030a-vM.A.v6.Bunyavirales.pdf [3] https://www.cdc.gov/dengue/epidemiology/index.html [4] https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-015-1114-7