Experts are investigating whether this infection can cause adverse pregnancy outcomes similar to those associated with the Zika virus.
According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 19 cases of OROV virus disease were identified in Europe in June and July among travelers returning from Cuba or Brazil. This disease spreads to people Culicoides paraensis species of insects and mosquitoes.
“The prognosis for recovery from this disease is good, and fatal outcomes are extremely rare,” it states August 9 in a published risk assessment.
The OROV virus can cause symptoms similar to those of the Zika virus, including acute fever, muscle aches, sensitivity to light, eye pain, vomiting, and a rash.
About 4 percent In some cases, the virus can infect the nervous system, causing inflammation around the spinal cord and brain or in the brain itself. However, most people recover within a few days or a month.
However, Brazil has recently reported several cases that researchers suspect are transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy. These infections are tentatively linked to bad outcomes, including miscarriage and microcephaly, which causes a baby’s head to be much smaller than average.
However, due to limited data, the association between adverse pregnancy outcomes and OROV has not yet been confirmed. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Pan American Health Organization are currently investigating the potential risks.
The OROV virus was first discovered in 1955 and has since caused outbreaks in various countries in South America, Central America and the Caribbean. So far this year, outbreaks have been reported in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, with the first known cases reported in Cuba.
Direct human-to-human transmission of the virus has never been documented. Most people are infected by Culicoides paraensis species of insects. In addition, several species of mosquitoes can carry and spread the virus to humans.
The insects that transmit the disease are not found in Europe, so “there is so far no evidence that European insects or mosquitoes can transmit the virus,” the ECDC noted in the risk assessment. This lack of evidence, and the fact that the virus does not spread between people, means that contracting the disease in Europe itself is highly unlikely.
However, the risk of contracting the disease outside of Europe is “moderate”, so the ECDC recommends that people traveling to areas where the OROV virus is circulating take precautions such as using bug spray and wearing long-sleeved shirts and long trousers when outdoors. There is no vaccine against the OROV virus.
Although the risk of contracting the OROV virus during pregnancy is not yet well established, the Zika virus, for which the risk of infection during pregnancy is known, is circulating in the same areas. Therefore, according to the ECDC, the same safeguards would be used to prevent both infections.
Some newspaper headlines refer to the OROV virus as the “sloth virus” or “sloth fever.” This is because Bradypus tridactylus species of sloth may be the main host of the virus, and insects transmit it to humans.
However, it is not yet confirmed exactly which animals are the main hosts of OROV virus. In addition to sloths, various wild birds and a few primates, such as capuchins (Cebus) and howlers (Alouatta), writes Live Science.
2024-08-15 06:56:22