BRAZIL has recorded the world’s first Oropouche virus deaths, with two young women dying of the illness. The women aged 21 and 24 from the Bahia state in the northeast of the country, had no underlying health issues, according to a pre-print which has not yet been peer-reviewed. They each developed symptoms "remarkably similar to a severe dengue fever", which included a fever , headache , and body aches .
Four days later, the 21-year-old started bleeding from her nose, vagina, and gums and died two days after she was admitted to hospital. The 24-year-old who died from cardiac arrest just hours after she was admitted had twice sought help from health facilities but had been discharged both times. Infections are starting to pop up far from the Amazon rainforest , where the Oropouche virus is endemic.
Experts fear the virus, which is spread primarily through Aedes mosquitos from sloths, has the potential to be the next one to cause a big outbreak in South America. A surge in cases has been recorded in Brazil this year – 7,284, up from 832 in 2023. Many have been recorded in areas that have not previously seen the virus.
Outbreaks have also been reported in neighbouring Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. Most read in Health Ecuador, French Guiana, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago have also recorded cases. Cuba - which is other side of the Caribbean Sea - reported its first outbreak in May.
In June officials reported a pregnant woman lost her baby at 30 weeks, with the Oropouche virus de.