Here’s the latest publicly reported information on Andes virus as of now.
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What Andes virus is and why it matters: Andes virus is a hantavirus circulating mainly in South America, notable for occasionally causing person-to-person transmission in addition to rodent-to-human spillover. Fatality rates in hantavirus infections can be high, and Andes virus has been a focus of vaccine and countermeasure research.[3][5]
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Recent research highlights:
- In 2024, UTMB researchers reported successful preclinical results for mRNA vaccine candidates against Andes virus in animal models, showing protective efficacy in a lethal-challenge context. This work was published by UTMB scientists and described as encouraging for future vaccine development.[1][2]
- Related scientific literature continues to document Andes virus genetic diversity, historical outbreaks (including Argentina in 2019–2020), and the broader hantavirus landscape, with peer-reviewed reports detailing human cases, outbreaks, and virology characterizations.[7][8][3]
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Public health resources and context:
- The CDC maintains fact sheets and clinical guidance about Andes virus and hantaviruses, including transmission routes, clinical features, and prevention considerations, useful for clinicians and public health workers.[5]
- Reviews and case reports in medical journals provide context on the severity of Andes virus infections and the history of person-to-person transmission events observed in Argentina and Bolivia.[8][7]
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Notable caveats:
- There is no approved vaccine for Andes virus for humans yet; the UTMB findings represent preclinical progress, not a licensed product at this time.[2][1]
- Information on outbreaks or new confirmed human cases can emerge rapidly; for the most current status, refer to updates from public health agencies and major journals.
Illustration: A simplified view of the current landscape
- Andes virus biology: rodent-borne hantavirus with occasional human-to-human transmission in certain outbreaks.[5]
- Vaccine progress: preclinical mRNA vaccine candidates showing protection in animal models, ongoing for translational development.[1][2]
- Public health context: ongoing surveillance, case reports, and guidance from CDC and other authorities.[5]
If you’d like, I can narrow to:
- A timeline of Andes virus outbreaks in the Americas,
- A quick summary of the UTMB vaccine study design and key findings, or
- The latest CDC guidance and clinical signs to watch for in potential exposures.
Sources
This surface protein complex for the Andes virus is a mushroom-shaped structure called a Gn-Gc tetramer. To map the 3D structures, the team first produced virus-like particles that mimic a real virus, but without the genome that makes a virus infectious. They then used a cryo-electron microscope—which shines an electron beam through a frozen sample and detects the shadows created by molecules—to reconstruct the three-dimensional structures of the Gn-Gc tetramers on the surface of the...
lifeboat.comOn November 2, 2018, a person-to-person transmission outbreak of Andes virus (Orthohantavirus andesense) began in the small town of Epuyén, Argentina. The strain demonstrated a high capacity for sustained transmission among the human population ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govNovel Strain of Andes Virus, Central Bolivia
wwwnc.cdc.govTo better describe the genetic diversity of hantaviruses associated with human illness in South America, we screened blood samples from febrile patients in Chapare Province in central Bolivia during 2008-2009 for recent hantavirus infection. Hantavirus RNA was detected in 3 patients, including 1 who …
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govA recent study at the University of Texas Medical Branch, published in Nature Communications, has shown that an mRNA vaccine developed by UTMB scientists protects against Andes virus in an animal model.
www.utmb.eduA mRNA vaccine protects against Andes virus in an animal model, according to a new study by UTMB scientists. Andes virus is a prominent rodent-borne virus in South America and has human fatality rates up to 30 percent.
www.utmb.edu