A new study has revealed that Oropouche virus may be more prevalent in Latin America than initially believed — and it may be negatively impacting a vulnerable population.
What's happening?
Oropouche virus is a vector-borne disease, which means that a living organism is what passes it on to humans. In this case, mosquitoes and biting midges (a kind of fly) are the vectors that transmit Oropouche.
According to The Telegraph, Oropouche virus was found outside of its endemic area of Brazil for the first time in October 2023. While the World Health Organization says it was also detected in Trinidad and Tobago in 1955, it has spread "rapidly" to other South American and Caribbean countries since the 2023 discovery, per the report.
In fact, a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases suggests that Oropouche's stint in those regions may have started as early as 2001.
Researchers analyzed 9,400 blood samples from 2001 to 2022 from patients in Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru. They found that 6.3% of individuals had Oropouche antibodies, indicating they were previously infected with Oropouche virus.
Why is Oropouche virus prevention important?
While there is still a lot that researchers don't know about Oropouche virus, The Telegraph says it has been linked to stillbirths and birth defects. Pregnant people and their children are the most vulnerable to this disease.
The study also found that the El Niño phenomenon accelerates Oropouche transmission. El Niño creates warmer and wetter weather, and Earth's warming climate — driven by human activities, mostly the burning of dirty fuels — has amplified this phenomenon over time.
This weather allows mosquitoes and biting midges to thrive and infect more people, which spells health and environmental problems.
"I think it's possible that Oropouche virus will become even more widespread in the future as climate change progresses," Dr. Jan Drexler, the head of the Virus Epidemiology Laboratory at the Institute of Virology at Charité and lead author of the study, told The Telegraph.
What's being done about Oropouche virus?
Stopping the transmission of Oropouche virus can help keep global communities safe. Taking action to protect the environment can be one of the best ways to do this.
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There is no treatment for Oropouche virus, so the best way to protect yourself is to be preventative.
There are many ways to protect yourself from Oropouche virus and other diseases, such as Zika and West Nile, that are transmitted by mosquitoes. The WHO recommends using mesh bed nets, chemical insecticides, protective clothing, and insect repellents.
The authors of the study also recommend that health care workers in the Americas familiarize themselves with the signs and symptoms of Oropouche virus, per The Telegraph. These include fever, headaches, and muscle pain.
The symptoms may overlap with those of other illnesses such as dengue fever, as the WHO explains, but knowing that Oropouche is an option may help with diagnoses and treatments.
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