IN addition to dengue, the Ministry of Health is also monitoring for the Oropouche virus, currently spreading in Brazil.
This announcement was made by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh during a press conference on Tuesday.
Minister Deyalsingh said, “I have confirmed with CARPHA (Caribbean Public Health Agency) this morning that we are now testing for the Oropouche virus in case we have it in Trinidad and Tobago. What CARPHA is doing—the blood samples that we send to them for dengue—once those samples are negative, they do a second screening for Oropouche virus, because the signs and symptoms tend to be the same and may overlap.”
He said the ministry was doing dual-testing approach, stating, “We want to know whether we are dealing with Oropouche virus at the same time.”
The World Health Organization describes Oropouche virus disease as an arboviral illness caused by the Oropouche virus (OROV), a segmented single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the genus Orthobunyavirus of the Peribunyaviridae family.
The virus circulates in Central and South America and the Caribbean, primarily transmitted to humans via the bite of the Culicoides paraensis midge, found in forested areas and near water bodies, or certain Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes.
Symptoms of Oropouche virus disease closely resemble those of dengue and typically appear between four to eight days after an infective bite, though the range can be three to twelve days.
The disease’s sudden onset includes fever, headache, joint stiffness, pain, chills, and sometimes persistent nausea and vomiting, lasting up to five to seven days.
