The Oropouche virus, which is spread by infected mosquitoes, has killed two women, the health ministry said
According to the health ministry of Brazil, two ladies passed away from the Oropouche virus, which is carried by infected flies and mosquitoes. This represents the first-ever global death toll from the virus.
Oropouche fever is a tropical viral infection that is spread from the blood of sloths to humans by infected midges and mosquitoes. The disease has the name of the location in Trinidad and Tobago where it was first discovered. Cases have been documented throughout Central America and South America since the disease’s discovery in 1954, mostly in the areas surrounding the Amazon basin.
The two victims from the northeastern state of Bahia were “under 30 years old, with no comorbidities, but had signs and symptoms similar to a severe case of dengue,” according to the statement released by the health ministry on Thursday.
The ministry also said it had recorded 7,236 cases of the Oropouche infection in 2024, adding that the disease was first isolated in Brazil back in 1960. Most cases have been reported in the states of Amazonas and Rondonia.
Brazilian health authorities are currently investigating another suspected death from Oropouche fever in the southern state of Santa Catarina, as well as six possible cases of transmission of the virus from mother to child, leading to two fetal deaths.
Symptoms of the Oropouche disease are similar to those of dengue, such as fever, muscle aches, stiff joints, headache, vomiting, nausea, chills, and sensitivity to light, the ministry said, adding that they commonly last for three to six days.
Oropouche virus illness outbreaks were reported earlier this year by the Cuban Ministry of Public Health from Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos provinces. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced in October 2020 that the Oropouche virus has been discovered for the first time in French Guiana.
The WHO declared at the time that there was no proof of Oropouche virus transmission from person to person.
