HEALTH

 NPR - A little-know virus called Oropouche is peaking interest this year, especially among scientists. This is because the case count increases for it has become notable.  So far this year there have been over 10,000 cases, mainly in South America and the Caribbean. On a global scale, this number might seem small, but considering that the vast majority of the cases are from Brazil, and between 2015 and 2022 there were only 261 recorded cases in that country, the increase is alarming.

The Pan American Health Organization issued an epidemiological alert in August urging for increased prevention, surveillance and diagnosis of the viral infection. The virus is spread by the bite of a mosquito or a midge. But, now there is a new concern that it is transmitted through sexual contact, according to a study published in the CDC’s Emerging Infectious Disease journal last month.

Here are the symptoms, and a look at the conditions that are allowing the virus, first identified in 1955, to thrive.