Oropouche virus more prevalent than previously assumed, data shows
Oropouche virus disease, also known as Oropouche fever, is a febrile illness, from which patients typically recover quickly.
It's caused by the Oropouche virus, which people catch through the bites of infected biting midges, and possibly of some mosquitoes, the World Health Organization says.
International researchers found antibodies against the pathogen in 6.3% of more than 9,400 blood samples, meaning at least one in 16 people there has had this infection at least once in their lives, says co-author Jan Felix Drexler.
More than 6.3% of the population has probably already had contact with the virus, says Drexler, head of the Virus Epidemiology working group at Germany's Charité hospital. "We don't know how long the antibodies last," he says.
But there were significant regional differences, the team wrote in a paper published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.
While in Costa Rica, an average of around 2% of the samples showed antibodies against the pathogen, in Ecuador it was 5% and in the Amazon regions, more than 10%.
The blood samples were taken between 2001 and 2022.
Symptoms of the Oropouche virus (OROV) are similar to those of dengue or chikungunya fever and include headaches, muscle and joint pain, nausea and diarrhoea, sometimes also skin rashes.
In rare cases, the disease can be severe. There are also indications of possible damage to unborn children. There is currently no specific treatment or vaccination for the virus.
The virus is transmitted in Latin America by different mosquito species.
For a long time, only a few cases were reported per year as little testing was carried out.
But the number of infections has risen to more than 20,000 cases per year since 2023, though it is unclear why this is the case.
Drexler's team say climate factors such as rainfall and temperature have a major influence. Last year's heavy rainfall in parts of South America could have contributed to larger mosquito populations and thus to the spread of the virus.
In Germany, the Foreign Office and Robert Koch Institute (RKI) centre for disease control say pregnant women should weigh whether it is necessary for them to travel to areas where there are outbreaks.
If you are travelling to areas affected, take consistent protection against bug bites by wearing long clothing, using insect repellent and getting a particularly fine-mesh mosquito net.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
15 hours ago
Woman from Gaza evacuated to Italy in a 'state of severe physical deterioration' dies in hospital
MADRID -- A 20-year old Palestinian woman described as being in a 'state of severe physical deterioration' has died after being transferred to Italy for treatment, the hospital said Saturday. The patient was admitted to Pisa University Hospital late Wednesday and died on Friday. She was removed from the Gaza Strip as part of a humanitarian mission and arrived with a 'with a very complex, compromised clinical picture,' according to the hospital. She died after entering a respiratory crisis and subsequently going into cardiac arrest, it said in a statement. Hospital staff had performed tests and started supportive therapy before she died, the statement said. The woman, named by Italian media as Marah Abu Zuhri, had arrived in Italy with her mother. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said almost 120 Palestinians — 31 patients and their families — had been flown to Rome, Milan and Pisa on three planes. In a post on X, Tajani said that it was the 14th medical evacuation of Palestinians that Italy had conducted since January 2024, and the largest. The hospital did not specify whether the woman had suffered from malnutrition, but said that she had arrived in a 'state of severe physical deterioration.' Eugenio Giani, leader of the Tuscan region, expressed his condolences Saturday for the woman's death. Earlier in the week, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza were at their highest levels since the Israel-Hamas war began. The U.N. says nearly 12,000 children under 5 were found to have acute malnutrition in July — including more than 2,500 with severe malnutrition, the most dangerous level. The World Health Organization says the numbers are likely an undercount. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month no one in Gaza is starving. 'There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza," he said. U.S. President Donald Trump responded to Netanyahu's claim by noting the images emerging of emaciated people. 'I don't know,' Trump said when asked if he agreed with the Israeli leader's comment. 'I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly because those children look very hungry.' Over the past two weeks, Israel has allowed around triple the amount of food into Gaza than what had been entering since late May. That was after two and a half months when Israel barred all food, medicine and other supplies, saying it was to pressure Hamas to release hostages taken during its October 2023 attack that launched the war.
Los Angeles Times
21 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Gazan woman evacuated to Italy in a ‘state of severe physical deterioration' dies in hospital
MADRID — A 20-year-old Palestinian woman described as being in a 'state of severe physical deterioration' has died after being transferred to Italy for treatment, the hospital said Saturday. The patient was admitted to Pisa University Hospital late Wednesday and died Friday. She was removed from the Gaza Strip as part of a humanitarian mission and arrived 'with a very complex, compromised clinical picture,' according to the hospital. She died after a respiratory crisis and subsequently going into cardiac arrest, a hospital statement said. Hospital staff had performed tests and started supportive therapy before she died, the statement said. The woman, identified by Italian media as Marah Abu Zuhri, had arrived in Italy with her mother. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said almost 120 Gazans — 31 patients and their families — had been flown to Rome, Milan and Pisa on three planes. In a post on X, Tajani said it was the 14th medical evacuation of Palestinians that Italy had conducted since January 2024, and the largest. The hospital did not specify whether the woman had suffered from malnutrition, but said that she had arrived in a 'state of severe physical deterioration.' Eugenio Giani, leader of the Tuscan region, expressed his condolences Saturday over the woman's death. Earlier in the week, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza were at their highest levels since the Israel-Hamas war began. The U.N. says nearly 12,000 children under 5 were found to have acute malnutrition in July — including more than 2,500 with severe malnutrition, the most dangerous level. The World Health Organization says the numbers are probably an undercount. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied that there is an acute hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip. There is 'no starvation in Gaza,' Netanyahu said last Sunday, dismissing the notion as a 'global campaign of lies.' Over the last two weeks, Israel has allowed about triple the amount of food into Gaza than what had been entering since late May. That was after 2½ months when Israel barred all food, medicine and other supplies, saying it was to pressure Hamas to release hostages taken during its October 2023 attack that launched the war.
USA Today
a day ago
- USA Today
Fewer Americans say they're drinking alcohol these days. Here's why
Fewer Americans say they're drinking alcohol these days: Only 54% report they consume alcoholic beverages, the lowest percentage in nearly 90 years of polls that track alcohol consumption across the country. That sobering statistic comes from Gallup, which has polled Americans on their drinking habits since 1939. The record low of 54% in 2025 compares with the all-time high, 71%, reported from 1976 to 1978. Why? Gallup says the results coincide with research that shows any level of alcohol consumption can be bad for your health. Even low levels of drinking can lead to certain cancers and heart problems, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Poll results were released Aug. 13. Here are some findings. Americans' use of alcoholic beverages has declined Can't see our graphics? Click here to reload the page. The decline in drinking echoes a reversal from earlier studies that showed moderate drinking could provide some benefits, Gallup says. Though reports vary on risks and benefits, 'no level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health,' the World Health Organization said in 2023. Definitions of moderate drinking also vary among health agencies and are different for men and women, the Mayo Clinic says. 'It means on days when a person does drink, women do not have more than one drink, and men do not have more than two drinks,' the clinic says. Examples of one drink include: More people think drinking is bad for you The perception that drinking can damage health gained traction this year, Gallup says. More than half of those surveyed said drinking is bad for your health, up from 45% in 2024. Only 6% said drinking is good for your health. Younger adults more likely to avoid alcohol Younger adults, those ages 18 to 34, are the most likely to believe drinking is bad for your health, Gallup says: 66% express that sentiment. People ages 35 to 44 were second-highest in that category: 50% and 48% of those 55 and older responded the same. At 60%, women are more likely to see moderate drinking as unhealthy versus men (47%), the survey said. NOTE Results for the Gallup poll are based on phone interviews conducted by ReconMR July 7-21 with a random sample of 1,002 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. For results based on the total sample of 583 adults who drink alcoholic beverages, the margin of sampling error is ±5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting. SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Gallup; Reuters
