Oropouche Virus (OROV) is the cause of an arboviral infection in tropical Latin America. It was first identified in Oropouche, a village in Trinidad. Oropouche Fever has a clinical picture that overlaps with other arboviral infections in the region.
OROV is a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus.
Order: Bunyaviriales
Distribution: tropical Central and South America and Caribbean, with many cases reported in Brazil
Vectors: biting midges (Culicoides), mosquitoes
Reservoirs: non-human mammals, birds
Common clinical features:
(1) fever
(2) joint pains
(3) variable rash
(4) muscle aches
(5) headache
Some patients have a recurrence of symptoms 1-2 weeks after recovery from the initial episode.
Less common findings:
(1) aseptic meningoencephalitis
(2) hemorrhagic features
Epidemics can occur when conditions for the vectors are optimum.
The clinical picture overlaps with other arboviruses such as Dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya.
The diagnosis is typically made by PCR.