While its workers continue battling mosquitoes who can spread dengue fever, Orange County announced Tuesday that two travel-related cases of Oropouche virus have now been detected. The division of county government has daytime and nighttime crews spraying neighborhoods and educating residents about mosquito prevention after the Florida Department of Health in Orange County notified it last week about two cases of dengue in the Lockhart-Rosemont area. “The emergence of Oropouche virus, even though the cases are travel-related, is a cause for concern,” said Steve Harrison, Mosquito Control manager.
“It highlights the interconnectedness of global health and the potential for mosquito-borne diseases to spread in other parts of the world. “We have intensified our efforts to control mosquito populations and prevent the establishment of Oropouche virus, as we did to mitigate the spread of dengue fever. Our goal is to safeguard the health of Orange County residents and visitors.
” The virus is spread to people by infected biting midges (small flies) and some mosquito species. Oropouche often is called “sloth fever” because it’s spread from animals, such as sloths and rodents, to mosquitoes which then infect humans. As with dengue, the Oropouche virus can be passed to humans only through an insect bite.
There are no medicines to treat the virus or prevent infection. Orange dengue cases spark health concerns, response from mosquito control Not everyone who gets bitten will show symptoms. About 60% of people infected with Oropouche become symptomatic with a high fever, headache, muscle aches, stiff joints, nausea, vomiting, chills or sensitivity to light.
Severe cases can result in meningitis. Two deaths in previously healthy young persons with Oropouche virus infection were recently reported in Brazil. In the U.
S., the CDC reported that most infected people had fever and other symptoms that went away without specific treatment. At least three people had symptoms return after the initial illness ended, a common characteristic of Oropouche.
A Florida Department of Health report as of Aug. 24 shows five cases reported in each of Broward, Duval and Hillsborough counties, 14 in Miami-Dade and two in each of Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Polk, Lee and Sarasota counties. All cases were from people who had traveled to Cuba.
Orange residents dealing with a mosquito issue at their home or within their community can seek help from Mosquito Control by calling the county’s 311 hotline to report the problem..
