Brazil’s Ministry of Health confirmed on Saturday (08/03/2024) what it called the first fetal death from the oropouche virus, which has already caused at least two other deaths in the country so far this year.
According to an official statement, the case confirmed on Saturday is a 30-week-old fetus that received the virus from its mother, a 28-year-old woman.
This case occurred in the state of Pernambuco, in the northeast of the country, a region where the other two deaths from oropouche have been confirmed in Brazil, which corresponded to two women under 30 years of age.
The Ministry of Health’s statement said that four other cases of fetal deaths that could have been caused by the same virus are still under investigation.
So far this year, Brazil has reported nearly 8,000 cases of oropouche, a virus transmitted by insects such as the sandfly (Culicoides paraensis) and the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito, among others.
The symptoms are similar to those of dengue, with fever, headaches, muscle and joint pain, and occasionally vomiting and diarrhea.
This year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), oropouche fever has already been detected in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba and Peru, among other Latin American countries.
gs (efe, See Health)
