Oropouche fever

The Oropouche fever is an infectious tropical disease caused by the Oropouche virus. It occurs in the Amazon, the Caribbean and Panama. The name derives from " Oropouche River" from on the island of Trinidad.

The pathogen is the Oropouche virus and belongs to the family Bunyaviridae. It is transmitted by mosquitoes or by the midge Culicoides paraensis to humans and is therefore counted as non- taxonomic group of arboviruses. As a reservoir of virus are wild mammals ( sloths ), birds and after alignment, the virus also recently man.

The first outbreak occurred in the 1950s. Meanwhile, the disease in Brazil is one of the most common infectious diseases with hundreds of thousands of sufferers. Due to the intensification of cocoa cultivation in Brazil ( mosquito breeding in empty, water-filled cocoa shells) occurred in recent years to an increase in mosquitoes and thus to a heaping, epidemic -like increase of transfers and diseases to humans.

Clinic

The Oropouche fever is a usually benign disease running. The incubation period is 4-8 days. Thereafter, the symptoms begin with chills, fever, headache and body pain. Rarely, a rash, and a participation of the central nervous system in the form of meningitis.

Vaccine or specific treatment is known.