[Hantavirus in Zulia state?].

During the last years, there has been a worldwide rise in the number of infectious diseases caused by newly discovered agents, in some cases and in others, by variants known as emergent or reemergent pathogens. The analysis of the nucleotide sequences of four RNA-positive hantaviruses (S. altoni) suggests that the Caño Delgadito virus is widely distributed in the Venezuelan plains. A similar distribution has been found for some isolates and strains of a novel hantavirus (proposed name "Mamporal"), which is phylogenetically very closely related to the pulmonary syndrome--causing hantaviruses of southern South America. There have not been clinical cases described or isolates of these viruses in Zulia state, Venezuela. However, some positive serological evidences suggest that their presence in this geographic area should be taken into consideration and further investigated.