LIMA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia declared a health emergency Tuesday after identifying a confirmed new virus that can cause death by hemorrhage.

    The country's Epidemiological Department has issued an alert, and control and watch action has begun across the country, according to reports from La Paz Tuesday.

    Authorities said the latest discovery is a new species of the arena virus, which may have caused the deaths of at least two persons this year.

    The existence of the virus was confirmed on April 18 by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, U.S. It has been named Chapare, as it was discovered in Bolivia's Cochabamba region, also called Chapare.

    Relevant research on the virus began in 2003, after the death of a 22-year-old man from hemorrhagic fever, said Barrientos.

    The Epidemiological Department said it will soon send to the CDC serum samples of deceased persons suspected of having been infected by the virus.

    The virus has a 30 percent fatality rate, said Barrientos. The time taken for evolution is between 7 and 15 days and the virus can be transmitted by air, contaminated food and rodent bite.

    The Chapare arena virus is related to similar species discovered in other Latin American countries and also transmitted by rodents, such as Guaranito in Venezuela, Mapucho in Bolivia, Sabia in Brazil and the Junin virus in Argentina.