Sloth Fever

26 Oct 2024 14:39:37 pm

Tags : Sloth Fever

Topic: Diseases

Why in the news?

The Canadian government has issued a health warning for international travelers in the wake of the Oropouche virus outbreak, also known as \"sloth fever.\" While not new to the Americas, recent reports highlight that the virus is most prevalent in Cuba, with cases also spreading in Brazil and Bolivia.

Source: The Indian Express

About Sloth Fever:

It is common in Latin America and the Caribbean.
It is an arboviral disease caused by the Oropouche virus (OROV), a segmented single-stranded RNA virus that is part of the genus Orthobunyavirus of the Peribunyaviridae family.
It is caused by the Oropouche virus, which is transmitted most often through the bite of the Culicoides paraensis midges and mosquitoes.
There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the disease to date.
Symptoms of the disease are similar to dengue and typically start between four and eight days after the bite.
The onset is sudden, and symptoms usually include fever, headaches, pain, chills, joint stiffness and sometimes nausea and vomiting.
The virus has been found to circulate in Central and South America and the Caribbean.
It can be transmitted to humans primarily through the bite of the Culicoides paraensis midge, found in forested areas and around water bodies, or certain Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes.
It is suspected that viral circulation includes both epidemic and sylvatic cycles.
- In the sylvatic cycle, primates, sloths, and perhaps birds are the vertebrate hosts, although a definitive arthropod vector has not been identified.
- In the epidemic cycle, humans are the amplifying host and OROV is transmitted primarily through the bite of the Culicoides paraensis midge.
There is no specific vaccine or antiviral treatment available for the disease.