Oropouche fever: A neglected disease that is raising alarms

Abstract

Introduction: Oropouche fever is a zoonosis of viral etiology transmitted mainly by mosquitoes of the Culicoides paraensis species, which has gained greater attention in recent years due to the appearance of outbreaks in the Americas region. In February 2024, the WHO alerted about the increase in the detection of cases of Oropouche fever in some areas of the Americas Region, setting off international alarms about a possible spread of the disease. Objective: To review the literature on Oropouche fever with special emphasis on virological and epidemiological aspects, transmission mechanism, clinical manifestations and treatment expectations. Methods: A non-systematic bibliographic review on Oropouche fever in humans was carried out in the different databases of Medline, ClinicalKey, UpToDate, Scopus, Embase, Google Scholar, Pubmed. Results: The epidemiology, etiology, clinical manifestations, complications, isolation and treatment possibilities of Oropouche fever are described. Conclusions: Oropouche fever is a public health challenge in South America, aggravated by its underreporting due to its similarity with other diseases such as dengue. The rapid spread of the virus, driven by climatic and global factors, poses a risk of expansion beyond the Americas. This highlights the urgent need to strengthen epidemiological surveillance and develop an effective vaccine.