Sao Paulo: Brazil recorded the world’s first death from the Oropouche virus, the country’s health ministry said on Thursday, after two women died of the disease spread by infected flies and mosquitoes.
The women, from Bahia state in northeastern Brazil, were “less than 30 years old, with no comorbidities, but had signs and symptoms similar to a severe case of dengue fever,” the ministry said in a statement.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website says there are currently known outbreaks of Oropouche in parts of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba and Peru.
Brazil’s Ministry of Health reported 7,236 cases of Oropouche infection in 2024, with the majority reported from the states of Amazonas and Rondonia.
According to the CDC, symptoms of an Oropouche virus infection usually begin four to eight days after the bite.
Symptoms usually last three to six days, the health authority said, with similar symptoms to dengue, such as fever, muscle aches, stiff joints, headache, vomiting, nausea, chills or sensitivity to light.
Severe cases can result in life-threatening complications such as meningitis.
According to the Ministry of Health, Oropouche was first isolated in Brazil in 1960. Most cases have been reported in the Amazon region of Brazil, but outbreaks and isolated cases have also been reported elsewhere in Latin America.
