Choclo virus
species of virus
Choclo virus (CHOV) is a single-stranded, negative-sense RNA zoonotic New World hantavirus. It was first isolated in 1999 in western Panama. The finding marked the first time Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) was found in Central America.
During this outbreak, a high seroprevalence was found among the general population, suggesting that this virus has an extremely low pathogenicity and causes sub-clinical to mild symptoms. This was confirmed in a study that infected hamsters with CHOV. All of the hamsters tested positive for CHOV, but none exhibited any symptoms.
Discovery
The virus was first isolated in 2000 from the spleen of a northern pygmy rice rat captured in Las Tablas, Los Santos in the Los Santos Province in western Panama and is named after the El Choclo neighborhood near the city.
Transmission
Choclo virus has not been shown to transfer from person-to-person. Transmission by aerosolized rodent excreta still remains the only known way the virus is transmitted to humans. In general, droplet and/or fomite transfer has not been shown in the hantaviruses in general, in either the hemorrhagic or pulmonary forms.
Epidemiology
There were a total of eleven cases reported but only nine serologically confirmed cases of Choclo virus found in this outbreak.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Choclo virus” as species of virus. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of virus. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q29002488. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1999 and 2000.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Choclo virus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.