• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Monday, September 29, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Oropouche virus could emerge and cause a public health problem

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
August 22, 2017
in Biology
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

After the Zika epidemic, which began in 2015, and the outbreak of yellow fever early in 2017, Brazil runs a serious risk of being afflicted by Oropouche, another virus that is widely distributed throughout South and Central America and the Caribbean.

Oropouche has adapted to urban environments and is moving ever closer to Brazil's major cities. An arbovirus transmitted by a mosquito (like Zika and yellow fever), Oropouche causes acute fever and may lead to meningitis and meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and meninges).

"Oropouche is a virus that could potentially emerge at any moment and cause a serious public health problem in Brazil," said Luiz Tadeu Moraes Figueiredo, a professor at the University of São Paulo's Ribeirão Preto Medical School (FMRP-USP). Figueiredo is a researcher for a Thematic Project supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) focusing on emerging zoonotic viroses.

According to him, about 500,000 cases of Oropouche fever have been reported in Brazil in recent decades but that the number of cases will grow because the virus, transmitted by the midge Culicoides paraensis, is no longer found only in Amazonian villages and is spreading to the big cities.

"C. paraensis is distributed throughout the Americas, and Oropouche virus therefore has considerable emergence potential," he said. "The virus may well spread from the Amazon region and central plateau to the most densely populated regions of the country."

The incidence of Oropouche fever is also rising in urban areas of Peru and Caribbean countries. In Brazil, the virus has been isolated from birds in Rio Grande do Sul state and from a marmoset in Minas Gerais state. The presence of neutralizing antibodies (which bind to the virus, tell the immune system to destroy it, and prevent it from infecting the organism) has been detected in primates in the city of Goiânia.

"We recently diagnosed a patient from Ilhéus [city in the northeastern state of Bahia] with Oropouche fever, in partnership with Eurico Arruda [a professor in FMRP-USP's Department of Cellular Biology]. This shows the virus is circulating around Brazil," Figueiredo said.

In 2002, researchers at FMRP-USP diagnosed 128 people infected by Oropouche virus in Manaus, Amazonas state's capital city. They presented with typical symptoms of the infection, such as acute fever, joint pain, headache and pain behind the eyes. Three also developed a central nervous system infection. "The virus was found in these patients' cerebrospinal fluid," Figueiredo said.

The researchers were intrigued to find that one of these three patients had neurocysticercosis, an infection of the central nervous system caused by the pork tapeworm Taenia solium, and another had AIDS.

"This shows that some immunodepressive diseases can facilitate penetration of the central nervous system by the virus. Hardly anyone thinks of this when treating an arbovirus infection, but the possibility must be considered," Figueiredo said.

The 128 patients with Oropouche in Manaus had been clinically diagnosed with dengue fever. The Oropouche and dengue viruses produce similar symptoms.

For this reason, researchers at FMRP-USP and other institutions such as Fundação Oswaldo Cruz have begun to warn that many suspected cases of dengue in Brazil may be cases of infection by Oropouche.

###

About São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known by the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. For more information: http://www.fapesp.br/en.

Media Contact

Heitor Shimizu
[email protected]
55-113-838-4223
@AgencyFAPESP

http://www.fapesp.br

http://agencia.fapesp.br/oropouche_virus_could_emerge_and_cause_a_public_health_problem_/25894/

Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

blank

Researchers Chart Navigation Strategies of Wild Cats and Dogs

September 29, 2025
Breakthrough Achievement: In Vitro Simultaneous Synthesis of All 21 tRNA Types

Breakthrough Achievement: In Vitro Simultaneous Synthesis of All 21 tRNA Types

September 29, 2025

Pathogenic Bacteria and Quality in Cold-Stored Korean Veggies

September 29, 2025

Innovative Tool Pinpoints Proteins Regulating Gene Activity

September 29, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    87 shares
    Share 35 Tweet 22
  • Physicists Develop Visible Time Crystal for the First Time

    73 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18
  • How Donor Human Milk Storage Impacts Gut Health in Preemies

    58 shares
    Share 23 Tweet 15
  • Scientists Discover and Synthesize Active Compound in Magic Mushrooms Again

    56 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Shorter Radiation Enhances Patient Comfort Without Boosting Disease Control in Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer

AI-Driven Body Composition Analysis Forecasts Cardiometabolic Risk

First Randomized Trial Shows Proton and Photon Radiation Therapies Equally Preserve Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 60 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.