A warning was issued after an increase in reported cases of the oropouche virus in five countries. An emerging virus dubbed 'sloth fever' has caused some alarm, after the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported that 19 imported cases of the disease have been found in the European Union for the first time. The oropouche virus (OROV), an RNA arbovirus, was first detected in the village of Oropouche in Trinidad and Tobago in 1955.
It's spread to people primarily through the bite of infected biting midges, according to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Some mosquitoes have also been known to carry the virus. The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) first issued an epidemiological alert about an increase in reported cases of the virus in five countries - Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Cuba and Colombia- in July.
The Lancet medical journal reported that the virus has a reservoir in pale-throated sloths, but also non-human primates and birds. Nontheless the possible link to sloths seems to have caught on. "The term 'sloth fever' is a colloquial name that has emerged due to the virus being found in areas where sloths, which are known to carry a range of parasites and pathogens, are present," explained Carolina Goncalves, superintendent pharmacist at Pharmica.
"However, the name is relatively misleading as it is spread by insect bites, not by direct contact with sloths." Dr Enny Paixao, associate professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical M.