PAHO Issues Alert Following First Deaths From Oropouche Virus Outbreak

NBC News (8/5, Acevedo) reports that on Friday, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) “issued an epidemiological alert as Latin America experiences a rise in cases of the Oropouche virus, a little-known disease spread by midges and mosquitoes.” The announcement came after PAHO “reported the first deaths associated with the virus – including fetal deaths associated with ‘possible instances of vertical transmission,’ in which a virus is transmitted mother-to-child during pregnancy.” Thus far, “at least 8,078 confirmed Oropouche cases” have been reported in the Americas, 90% of which come from Brazil. Symptoms include “fever, muscle aches, pain behind the eye sockets, headaches and vomiting,” among others. There are currently no “vaccines or specific antiviral drugs to prevent or treat Oropouche infections,” with treatment instead being “focused on relieving patients’ symptoms, according to PAHO.”