BOLIVIAN HEMORRHAGIC FEVER PROBABLY TRANSMITTED BY PERSONAL CONTACT1

Abstract

A case of Bolivian hemorrhagic fever demonstrating severe constitutional reaction, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and probable encephalopathy, is described. The illness was contracted in the Panama Canal Zone, in a situation that suggests person-to-person transmission. The diagnosis was confirmed by isolation and reisolation of Machupo virus from the patient''s plasma on the 8th day of illness, serologic identification of the virus isolate, and development of specific antibody in the patient''s convalescent-phase serum.