Oropouche disease: symptoms of the sloth virus and what you should know

Recently, many Pipos have seen a rise in the number of cases and the first confirmed death, alerting the world to the growing threat posed by Oropoulos.

This virus, I still can't understand it, and currently there is no vaccine or medicine.

According to official Brazilian information, two young women from the northeastern state of Bahia died of Oropouche at the end of July.

The first outbreak of the virus, which is transmitted through mosquito bites, also occurred in Cuba.

So what are the main risks this disease can cause and how can it be diagnosed, prevented and treated?

Oropoulos virus is an insect-borne virus, primarily the pinhead-sized mosquito species Culicoides paraensis, which is widespread in various parts of the Americas.

The first cases were recorded in 1955 in a village called Vega de Oropouche in Trinidad and Tobago.

Researchers estimate that over 500,000 cases of the disease caused by the virus have been diagnosed in Brazil over the past sixty years, although they admit that they may be underestimating the number.

So far, the Don has a record of nearly 10,000 cases this year, compared to just over 800 in 2023.

Most of the cases in Brazil have occurred in the Amazon region, which is why they say Oropouche is a concern.

In addition to Brazil, oropouche has also become a public health problem in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, French Guiana, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Bolivia and Cuba in recent years.

In Europe, only a few cases have been reported from Spain, Italy and Germany since June, but not among travelers returning from Cuba and Brazil.

The virus can be transmitted from an infected person to others through insect bites.

There is no evidence that they spread in any way, such as through skin contact or through the air.

However, according to a report by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, findings suggest that pregnant women could transmit the virus to their unborn child.

They have never been able to prove the possible effects of oropoulos on pregnancy and unborn children, but they are being investigated.

What is certainly true is that disease outbreaks are spreading due to factors such as urbanization, deforestation and climate change.

Oropoulosis also occurs naturally in so-called primates, i.e. animals such as monkeys and sloths.

Scientists suspect that some birds are also affected.

Oropus-like disease can cause a flu-like or mucous illness that resembles dengue fever.

The World Health Organization lists the symptoms as follows:

In most cases, these symptoms last five to seven days.

Pipo report similar symptoms, relapse, become ill again, or get worse after failing to recover.

There is no clear reason why they relapse; it may be that the same infection recurs or that they live in an area where there are many virus-carrying insects and become infected again.

On July 25, Brazilian authorities recorded the first deaths from Oropouche fever.

They were both in their twenties and doctors say they had no history of health problems before.

The Brazilian Ministry of Health warned that the virus could also cause brain damage in babies who become infected with the virus in the womb.

We report four cases of microcephaly—reduced brain development caused by the Zika virus—in newborns who had already been infected during their lifetime.

Dem bin also has a connection with Oropouche due to a stillbirth.

However, scientists agree that more research is needed before they can assess the potential risks of the virus during pregnancy.

Possible serious complications of oropoulosis include encephalitis and meningitis, diseases that cause swelling of the meninges covering the brain and spinal cord.

However, the two deaths announced by the Brazilian Ministry of Health are unique.

That I am not missing the deaths that we have not seen before – or misdiagnosed them, say, as being caused by dengue fever – remains possible, within the framework of more than 500,000 diagnoses that we have not made over many, many years.

E do not receive any special medications to treat Oropouche.

The Brazilian Ministry of Health states that “patients must rest and receive symptomatic treatment and medical supervision.”

Doctors may recommend special medications to relieve these symptoms, such as fever, pain, and nausea.

Infected people should also continue to use insecticides to reduce the risk of insect bites that could transmit the virus to other animals.

E do not receive any of the available vaccines to prevent infection.

The best way to protect them from mosquitoes is to protect them from insect bites.

Health authorities recommend basic preventive measures such as:

Mosquito nets may be useful, but they are less effective at preventing oropoulos and similar insect-borne diseases such as malaria because the tiny mosquitoes that most commonly transmit oropoulos are so small that they cannot pass through them.

Some insecticides such as deltamethrin and N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) are effective in controlling disease-transmitting species.

From a broader public health perspective, they are calling for wider availability of testing to speed up diagnoses and contain outbreaks before they spread.

Increasing deforestation and climate change increase the risk of the oropoulos virus spreading to new habitats and creating new cycles of urban transmission of this virus, as is already the case with dengue, Zika and chikungunya fever.