Oropouche fever (Orov), a disease that is transmitted through the midge ‘Culicoides paraensis’, arrived in Colombia after having become a considerable public health problem in neighboring countries such as Peru or Brazil.
(See also: Zika is no longer a global public health emergency)
The virus, to which the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has paid great attention, is very similar to dengue and has symptoms of fever, headache, dizziness, weakness, muscle pain and even skin rashes.
And, according to Portafolio data, in Colombia 37 cases of this virus have already been detected in the departments of Amazonas, Caquetá and Meta. This figure, although still minimal, has led health authorities to raise the alert to prevent the spread of the transmitting insect.
Thus, those who present the previously mentioned symptoms should go to the nearest health center to confirm, through tests, whether it is this disease. Additionally, it is recommended to take measures similar to those taken with Zika or dengue, to prevent the reproduction of these insects.
The problem has already become common in other areas of the region such as Peru, where, according to information from the BBC, There were 57 cases of this fever in northern Cusco in 2016, a phenomenon never before seen in this part of the nation.
Experts cited by the British media affirm that, although the disease is fatal in very few cases, this virus is slowly spreading to places where it has never occurred.
Something that raises the concern of several experts, the media states, is that, unlike Zika or chikungunya, The mosquito that transmits this disease has greater resistance to coldso it can develop in cities where other virus outbreaks do not reach.
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