Health
What you need to know about the potentially dangerous Oropouche virus emerging in South America
Topline
An outbreak of the Oropouche virus, a little-known and potentially dangerous disease also called sloth fever, is spreading in South America, worrying scientists after the first human deaths from the virus were reported in Brazil and rising numbers reports emerged of stillbirths and birth defects due to infections during pregnancy. .
There is an outbreak of sloth fever in South America.
Key facts
The Oropouche virus is spread primarily through the bites of infected mosquitoes, although some mosquitoes are known to carry the virus.
It was first discovered in Trinidad and Tobago in 1955 on the Oropouche River for which it is named and the virus has since circulated in Latin America and the Caribbean, with sporadic outbreaks in countries such as Brazil and Peru.
About 60% of people infected with the virus will show symptoms, according to to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which can include fever, severe headache, joint and muscle pain, nausea, dizziness, chills, and sensitivity to light and typically occur three to 10 days after infection.
Most people recover within a few days to a month and symptoms typically last less than a week, the CDC said, although they often return days or even weeks later.
A small one proportion of people infected with Oropouche – less than 5% – develop more severe illness, including meningitis, encephalitis and bleeding, although death is rare.
There are no medications to treat Oropouche or vaccines to prevent infection available or in development and health experts say the best way to protect against the disease is by prevent bites against mosquitoes and mosquitoes in areas where the disease occurs, such as the use of insect repellents and door and window screens.
Why is Oropouche called the sloth virus or sloth fever?
Oropouche is sometimes called “sloth virus” or “sloth fever” because it is found in areas where sloths are present, not because contact with sloths transmits the virus. Scientists believe the virus has a reservoir in pale-throated sloths, as well as in non-human primates and some birds, which can help transmit the disease through the bites of mosquitoes or mosquitoes.
Why is this oropouche outbreak a concern?
The Oropouche virus is endemic to parts of South America and has been for some time, meaning infections and outbreaks are not necessarily uncommon. However, experts say there are several notable factors that make the current outbreak worrying. Firstly, the outbreak appears to be ongoing and larger than normal for Oropouche, with more than 8,000 cases confirmed by laboratory testing so far this year. The disease is also more widespread geographically than previous outbreaks, said Stephen Graham, professor of virology at the University of Cambridge, reaches as far north as Cuba and as far south as Sao Paulo state in Brazil and the CDC said the outbreak is occurring in both endemic areas and in “new areas outside the Amazon” where the virus is commonly found. Brazil has been hit hard and Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Cuba are all among the countries that have reported locally acquired infections. Several others-included the United States (11), Spain (12), Italy (5) and Germany (2) have reported cases linked to travel, although there are no signs yet that the disease has taken hold. There are several unusual factors that also make this current outbreak concerning, most notably the first reports of deaths from the virus among two otherwise healthy, non-pregnant women in Brazil, the first known fatalities from the virus. There are also growing concerns about the virus’s ability to spread from mother to fetus during pregnancy, and experts are investigating whether it is responsible for stillbirths, miscarriages or birth defects.
What we don’t know
Although Oropouche is not a new virus, there is a lot we don’t know, enough according to the leading medical journal Lancet described it as a “mysterious threat” in an editorial earlier this month. Scientists are also unsure about the cause of the current outbreak, although they have an idea. The Oropouche virus is an RNA virus and its genome consists of multiple segments, Graham explained, meaning the virus is “capable of rapid mutation” and of mixing and matching different segments — a process similar to shuffling of two decks of cards, known as ‘reshuffling’. ‘- if ‘you are unlucky enough to be infected with two different strains.’ Such genetic mixing provides more opportunities for the virus to become more transmissible or pathogenic, Graham said. Experts to believe there is evidence that this is what happened in Brazil and what caused the current outbreak.
Tangent
Many of the early symptoms of Oropouche are similar to “symptoms of dengue, chikungunya, Zika or malaria,” according to the CDC, and the virus often goes undiagnosed or confused with it.
Crucial quote
Oropouche’s characteristics mean it is unlikely to turn into a global pandemic like COVID-19, Cambridge’s Graham said. “The good news here is that most people fully recover from an Oropouche virus infection within a few weeks, so this virus will not cause a SARS-CoV-2-like global pandemic.”
Big number
500,000. That is the number of cases of Oropouche fever since the discovery of the virus. according to to The Lancet.
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