OROPOUCHE VIRUS STRIKES

A GLOBAL medical virus with a distinctive Trinidad and Tobago name has turned deadly in this part of the world.

The Oropouche virus has already infected more than 8,000 people in this part of the world.

At least three deaths have been reported in Brazil.

There have also been cases of fetal deaths or congenital abnormalities in pregnant women.

The virus is spread by insects, rodents, birds, and the animal sloth.

People who are bitten can carry the virus.

The Pan-American Health Organisation, an arm of the World Health Organisation (WHO), has raised the public health risk to “high” for the Caribbean and Latin America.

The virus is endemic to the Amazon basin, especially forested areas.

The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention has counselled healthcare professionals and public health authorities to look out for Oropouche virus cases.

Pregnant women have been advised not to travel to areas where there are infected patients.

The news agency CNN reported that 21 American travellers returning from Cuba tested positive for the virus last week.

Apart from Cuba, cases have been reported in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru.

The Oropouche virus was named after the community in south Trinidad, where, according to CNN, it was first discovered in 1955.

“Since then, about 500,000 cases have been discovered,” CNN said.

The respected medical journal Lancet described the virus as a “mysterious threat.”

Symptoms are fairly similar to dengue or Zika.

They include sudden onset of fever, chills, headache, muscle pain, light sensitivity, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, fatigue, and rash.

There are limited cases of the virus infecting the nervous system and causing meningitis and encephalitis.

An epidemiologist was quoted as saying that “we don’t fully understand its life cycle and its transmission cycle.”

CNN reported: “The current outbreak is spreading rapidly in countries where the virus is known to circulate and in new places.”

There are shifts in the geography of the virus spread, according to the news agency.

Medical experts have advised people to avoid being bitten and to dress appropriately.

Pregnant women have been asked to take “extra precautions.”

There are no vaccines for the Oropouche virus.