Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health of Cuba first reported Oropouche cases on May 27. Since then a total of 74 cases have been confirmed – the majority of them in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Songo La Maya.
A total of 7,286 cases of OROV have been registered in 21 Brazilian states up to July 28, several times the number of infections recorded in all of 2023, according to data from Brazil’s Health Ministry.
Dr Danny Altmann, a Professor of Immunology at Imperial College London, warned that there is a “real need for vigilance” given the rapid spread of the virus.
“Oropouche is taking off this Summer in the Americas – so, a concern to people there, a concern to tourists,” he said.
Oropouche is part of the arbovirus family that includes the Zika virus and dengue fever. It is usually found in the Amazon rainforest and is spread primarily by biting midges.
Patients typically develop a fever three to eight days after infection. Common symptoms include rashes, headaches and muscle or joint pain. Some may also experience gastrointestinal symptoms and sensitivity to light.
The ECDC recommended laboratory testing for Oropouche when other tests for other diseases – like dengue, chikungunya or Zika – are negative.
Late last month, Brazil reported the world’s first deaths from the virus after two women in their twenties succumbed to the illness in the northeastern state of Bahia.
In echoes of the Zika outbreak that swept the continent in 2015, the virus has been linked to stillbirths and birth defects.
Brazil’s Health Ministry reported earlier this month that there are eight cases of direct mother-to-foetus transmission under investigation, four of these in Pernambuco, one in Bahia and three in Acre.
Dr Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said that he would advise “against non-essential travel to infected areas for pregnant women”.
He added that he is “almost certain” that there are more infections in Europe than currently reported.
Professor Altman said he was concerned that oropouche could one day spread to Southern Europe and North America, given that vectors carrying the virus “are thriving in their expanded geographical range due to global warming”.
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