iStockphoto / Javier Dinten Fernandez
The Florida Department of Health announced 30 cases of Oropouche Virus Disease aka ‘Sloth Fever‘ had been reported in the Sunshine State coming in from international travel with 10 of those cases being reported this week. In response, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working on a rapid detection and response plan.
According to the CDC, Sloth Fever is a potentially lethal disease that is transmitted to humans from “biting midges (Culicoides paraensis) and possibly mosquitoes (e.g., Culex quinquefasciatus).” The Oropouche virus is endemic to Amazonian countries in South America (Brazil, Peru, etc) but has in recent years been reported on Central American and Caribbean countries.
The recent cases reported in Florida were discovered in travelers all linked to Cuba. Those patients reported symptoms of “fever, myalgia, and headache, often with other symptoms including arthralgia, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, and rash.”
Across Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, and Peru there have been 8,000 cases reported so far in 2024. While deaths in humans from Sloth Fever is rare, there have been “two deaths and vertical transmission associated with fetal death and possible congenital malformations” reported so far this year, according to the CDC, so it is certainly something the CDC and Florida Department of Health want to proactively monitor as something like this spreading in the Sunshine State (where I live) would be potentially catastrophic.
The Florida Department of Health made the Sloth Fever announcement in their ‘Florida Arbovirus Surveillance’ update for Week 34 of the year (August 18-24), and the addition of Oropouche Virus Disease is certainly notable because as a native Floridian this is not something I’ve ever heard about here.
It is believed there is no local transmission of Sloth Fever in Florida at this time but with 30 cases so far in 2024 and conditions in Florida capable of incubating this disease, the CDC wants to take any and all action to ensure there are no outbreaks in the future that could potentially spread to the rest of the United States.
In their release, the CDC announced they are “working with state public health jurisdictions and international partners to enable rapid detection and surveillance of Oropouche virus transmission and disease to guide public health prevention measures. CDC is currently developing a plan for rapid detection and response to Oropouche virus disease cases in the United States.”
As a born and raised Floridian… I’d really appreciate it if one week would go by where there isn’t one more new thing on the horizon to stress over. If we could just nip this in the bud ASAP by screening better for it at the airports that would be fantastic. If this is coming in from biting mites then surely we could teach scent hounds to detect those mites. Let’s get on that ASAP…