It is the name of the virus that causes the 'Chapare hemorrhagic fever', a disease that appeared in Bolivia in 2003, with a lethality of 60% and without vaccine so far. Etymology is first an eponymous of the province of Chapare (Bolivia) where it was identified, and Mammarenavirus is an acronym for Arenavirus mammal, a name formed by sand and virus, as it is a sandy-looking virion that is transmitted between mammals.