U.S. and Europe Issue Warnings Over Imported Cases of ‘Sloth Fever’

U.S. and Europe Issue Warnings Over Imported Cases of ‘Sloth Fever’

Move over monkeypox and bird flu!

Public health officials in Europe and the US are expressing concerns about imported cases of a disease known as “sloth fever.”

More cases of the Oropouche virus disease, also known as sloth fever, are being reported in the United States this year among travelers returning from Cuba and Brazil. The viral disease, which is spread by small flies and some types of mosquitoes, can cause a sudden fever and aches, among other symptoms.

There are no vaccines or medicines to treat the disease. While cases have been reported worldwide — including 21 in the United States and 19 in Europe — deaths are rare, and there is no evidence of local transmission within those two areas. The virus is also of particular concern to pregnant women. Here’s what to know.

Oropouche virus disease is a zoonotic disease, which means it was transmitted from a nonhuman animal to humans. It was first detected in 1955 in a forest worker in a village in Trinidad and Tobago, near the Oropouche River, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It is also known as sloth fever because scientists first identifying the virus believed sloths were important in its spread between insects and animals.

The disease is an arbovirus (i.e., it is typically spread through bites from arthropods such as mosquitoes and midges), and sloths are its natural reservoirs.

“The virus doesn’t spread from person to person,” Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, confirmed to Fox News Digital.

“There is some risk to the fetus in terms of birth defects.”

Oropouche, classified as an arbovirus, is often mistaken for other similar viruses, like Zika, dengue, chikungunya and malaria, according to the CDC.

Symptoms of the virus include fever, headache, muscle aches, stiff joints and chills.

The increase in concern is because the illnesses associated with infection have become more severe, and cases are being seen in an even more comprehensive geographical range.

Earlier this month, the Pan American Health Organization upgraded its risk level for Oropouche from moderate to high, citing the virus’s geographical spread and the occurrence of fatal cases, which are notable for a disease that has historically been known to cause mild to moderate symptoms.

On 23 August, the World Health Organization published a note stating that the public-health risk posed by the virus is high at the regional level and low at the global level.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised close surveillance of people returning from affected areas. Cases of Oropouche infection have been identified in people who have travelled to the United States, Spain, Italy and Germany from Brazil and Cuba, including 20 travelers from Cuba to the U.S. that the CDC reported on 27 August.

…The geographic extension of the outbreak does represent a change. The number of municipalities and states affected is much higher. Additionally, the virus has spread outside the Amazon region. Again, we don’t know whether this is the first time because there was no surveillance of Oropouche outside the Amazon before.

Public health officials worry that an infected person may get bitten by a mosquito, which then bites another, who then acquires the virus via local transmission. At present, specific warnings are being issued for pregnant women.

In Brazil, officials are investigating reports that infections might be passed on from a pregnant woman to a fetus — a potentially frightening echo of what was seen during Zika outbreaks nearly a decade ago.

The CDC has recommended that pregnant women avoid non-essential travel to Cuba and suggested all travelers take steps to prevent bug bites, such as using insect repellents and wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants.

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.