Tourists walk along the paths of the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru in September 2023. Peru and several other South American countries, along with areas of the Caribbean, are seeing more of the Oropouche virus, the CDC warns. (Colleen Thomas/TNS)
(Tribune News Service) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health alert on Friday warning of the increased risk of the Oropouche virus to travelers in the Americas, particularly those visiting the Amazon basin and areas in South America and the Caribbean where the disease has newly been spotted.
Endemic in the Amazon, Oropouche is a virus spread by the bite of small flies and mosquitoes that can cause fevers, headaches and other ailments.
The disease has recently been identified in Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Cuba, including in areas that have never before seen it. Between January and August, more than 8,000 cases have been reported, according to the CDC, including two deaths. There were also five cases where the virus was transmitted from mother to fetus where fetal death or congenital abnormalities were reported.
Earlier this month, the World Health Organization and its regional office, the Pan American Health Organization, urged countries throughout the Americas to ramp up surveillance of the overlooked and underdiagnosed disease. That’s a difficult task, as Oropouche is often confused with another virus that’s having a record-breaking year in the Americas: dengue.
Oropouche and dengue both cause high fever, muscle and joint pain, nausea, vomiting and headaches, and the best way to distinguish between the two is through diagnostic tools. Oropouche causes symptoms in about 6 in 10 people it infects, and there are no specific vaccines or treatments for the disease.
It’s still not well understood what puts some people at risk of more severe health complications, the CDC said. Health authorities around the world are currently investigating the risk it poses to pregnant people.
This year, U.S. and European travelers returning from Cuba and Brazil have contracted Oropouche. Now, the U.S. public health agency is advising that travelers who have symptoms consistent with the disease be evaluated and get tested for the virus.
The CDC warned that measures are needed to prevent potential importation of the virus to the U.S., where there’s no current evidence of local transmission.
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