SCIENTISTS have raised the alarm over a little-known brain-attacking virus carried by sloths that is currently on the move.
Infections are starting to pop up far from the Amazon rainforest, where Oropouche virus is traditionally endemic.
Places where the virus reaches are at risk of explosive outbreaks.
An epidemic which hit Belem, Brazil, in 1961, infected 11,000 people within just a few weeks, for example.
Most Oropouche infections are mild, with symptoms similar to Dengue, including a headache, body pains, nausea, a rash and bleeding gums.
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But the virus can also attack the brain leading to meningitis or encephalitis, which can be fatal.
Oropouche fever is not known to have killed anyone, but a few suspected fatalities are under investigation.
In the first half of this year, Brazil recorded 5,530 human infections, compared to just 836 in the whole of 2023.
Outbreaks have also been reported in neighbouring Bolivia, Colombia, Peru.
Ecuador, French Guiana, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago have also recorded cases.
More worryingly, Cuba - which is other side of the Caribbean Sea - reported its first outbreak in May.
One of the people infected travelled back to Italy with the disease, making it the first case to be recorded in Europe.
'WE SHOULD ALL BE WORRIED'
Deforestation of the Amazon is behind the spread in cases, according to a paper in the Lancet Regional Health.
Increased urbanisation of the rainforest and climate change are also likely making it worse, they added.
Danny Altmann, a Professor of Immunology at Imperial College London, said that “we should all be worried” about diseases like Oropouche extending their reach.
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He warned they could become common in many parts of the USA and Southern Europe within the coming decades.
“Oropouche is certainly a worry for its uncertainty and, for all those worried about global health, it just feels like climate change is adding to the healthcare burden in a very palpable way, season by season,” he said. cuba
"There’s a gap in knowledge about where we expect this virus to turn up," he added.
Mosquitos which carry several tropical diseases, including dengue, zika and chikungunya have already been spotted in 18 EU countries.
Until recently, these diseases were only typically present in parts of Africa, Asia and the Americas - where the bugs were established.
The bugs have become a growing threat to Europe over the past two decades as warmer temperatures have allowed the blood-sucking nat to thrive, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
WE DON'T KNOW ENOUGH
Typical infectious disease control measures – like mosquito nets and insect repellent – might not work for slowing the spread of Oropouche.
This is because the midges are so tiny that they can pass through mosquito nets and insect repellents might not be as effective as they are against mosquitos.
What worries scientists the most is that much of the science behind the virus and its spread is unknown.
In the jungle, the virus circulates between primates, sloths, and birds, but it remains unclear which insect spreads it there.
Midges and mosquitos distribute the disease among humans in urban settings.
"The fact that we don’t have a really good idea of all the species of insects that can transmit Oropouche means we don’t know where the risk area lies in terms of how it might go onwards to spread," the Prof said.
