The Department of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Microbiology of Verona, Italyhas diagnosed the first case in Europe of Oropouche feverin a patient with a recent travel history to Cubaa case that has already been notified to the competent health authorities of the Veneto region, as well as to international information and monitoring services, published The Republic.
The IO Foundation, which develops projects in Global Health, especially in the field of infectious diseases and travel medicine, specified that The patient, a 26-year-old woman with no relevant medical history, visited Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, from May 12 to 26, 2024..
The young woman presented symptoms during the flight back to Italy on May 26, including diarrhea, general malaise, high fever, severe headache and nausea. She also experienced arthralgias and retro-orbital pain.
According to the IO note, Leukopenia (lymphopenia) was detected in the patient and dengue was initially suspected. However, rapid tests for dengue were negativealso those established to detect Zika and chikungunya (in blood and urine).
The patient reported that her relatives in Cuba experienced similar symptoms. On the island several provinces have registered cases of the Oropouche virus after an infectious outbreak with febrile syndromes initially detected in Santiago de Cuba.
The specialists finally performed a specific test on the young woman that confirmed the diagnosis of Oropouche fever infection.
The Italian Ministry of Health specified that the virus is transmitted mainly through mosquito bites. Culicoides paraensis and? To date, direct transmission of the virus from person to person has not been documented..
#Cuba
