Oropouche virus

Background

Microbiology

• Member of the family Peribunyaviridae and genus Orthobunyavirus within the Simbu serogroup

Epidemiology

• Transmitted by mosquitoes and midges
• Causes periodic outbreaks in the Amazon Basin, but has since spread to other parts of South America and the Caribbean
  • Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Guyana, Peru, Ecuador, and Panama
  • But also Argentina, French Guiana, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago
  • Cases now appearing in Barbados and Cuba

History

• Originally detected in 1955 in a person from the Vega de Oropouche village in Trinidad and Tobago, along the Oropouche River

Clinical Manifestations

• Incubation period 3 to 10 days
• Starts with fever, headache (often severe), chills, myalgias, arthralgias
  • May have photophobia, dizziness, retroorbital/eye pain, nausea/vomiting
  • May have maculopapular rash starting on trunk and spreading to extremities
• Occasionally can have conjunctival injection, diarrhea, severe abdominal pain, and hemorrhagic symptoms
• Bloodwork may show lymphopenia, elevated CRP, and mildly elevated liver enzymes
• Overall usually mild and self-limited
• Lasts for up to a week, but can recur days or weeks later

Neuroinvasive Disease

• In up to 4% of patients affected, it can cause meningitis or encephalitis
• A few case reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome 10 to 11 days after onset of symptoms

Diagnosis

• PCR available for serum, CSF, urine, tissue
  • Ideally collected as soon as possible, up to 10 days of symptom onset
• Serology also available but plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT)
  • Acute (collected within 7 days of symptoms) and convalescent (2 to 3 weeks after the first collection) are required