VOA健康报道2024--What Is the Oropouche Virus Found in US Travelers to Cuba?

American health officials have identified a virus spread by insects in more than 20 people who visited Cuba. The virus is officially called Oropouche. It is also known as sloth¹ fever.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said August 27 it had received reports of 21 cases in the United States. All of the cases - 20 in Florida and one in New York - involved people who had traveled to Cuba.

European health officials said they had identified 19 cases of the virus, nearly all of them in travelers.

The CDC explains that Oropouche is usually spread through the bites of small flies called midges, as well as mosquitoes. Signs, or symptoms, of the sickness usually start three to 10 days after an insect bite. They can include headache, high temperature, joint² stiffness, stomach problems and sensitivity to light.

The CDC says most virus cases last from three to six days and people generally recover without any long-term effects. There is currently no specific treatment or vaccine³ for the sickness.

Where did Oropouche come from?

The Oropouche virus is native to forested tropical areas. It was first identified in 1955 in the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. The virus was named after a nearby village and water system.

The sickness is sometimes called sloth fever because scientists investigating the virus found it in a three-toed sloth. Researchers believed the sloths⁴ were important in spreading the virus between insects and animals.

How does it spread?

The virus is spread to humans by small biting flies called midges, and by some kinds of mosquitoes. Humans have become infected while visiting forested areas and are believed to be responsible for helping⁵ the virus make its way to towns and cities. So far, person-to-person transmission, or spread, has not been documented.

How many cases have there been?

The virus has recently caused large outbreaks in Amazon areas where it was known to exist. It has also been found in new areas of South America and the Caribbean. About 8,000 local infections have been reported in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, and Peru.

Most patients returning from Cuba reported their symptoms between May and July. Three of the patients were hospitalized, with no deaths reported, the CDC said in its Morbidity⁶ and Mortality Weekly Report.

What are the symptoms and treatments?

Symptoms can seem similar to other tropical diseases like dengue, Zika or malaria⁷. The most common ones include fever, headaches and muscle pains. Some infected people also suffer from diarrhea, unsettled stomach, vomiting⁹ or skin reactions.

Some patients can suffer symptoms repeatedly. And one in 20 people may experience more severe symptoms like bleeding, meningitis and encephalitis. The virus rarely causes death, although there were recent reports of deaths in two healthy young people in Brazil.

There are no vaccines¹⁰ to prevent infections and no medicines are currently available to treat the symptoms.

Are there other concerns?

In Brazil, officials are investigating reports that infections might be passed on from pregnant women to their unborn babies. This kind of spread was documented during Zika outbreaks nearly 10 years ago.

The CDC has issued guidance that pregnant women should avoid non-necessary travel to Cuba. The agency also suggested that all travelers take steps to prevent insect bites, such as using insect repellents and wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants.

Words in This Story

stiff - adj. hard and difficult to move

specific - adj. exact or containing details

tropical - adj. from or in the hottest parts of the world

fever - n. a high body temperature caused by sickness

diarrhea - n. a sickness in which a person's solid waste is more liquid than usual and comes out of the body more often

vomit⁸ - v. to have the food, liquid, etc., that is in your stomach come out through your mouth because you are sick?

repellent - n. a substance used to keep insects away

1 sloth   

n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散

参考例句：

• Absence of competition makes for sloth.没有竞争会导致懒惰。
• The sloth spends most of its time hanging upside down from the branches.大部分时间里树懒都是倒挂在树枝上。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

4 sloths   

懒散( sloth的名词复数 )； 懒惰； 树獭； （经济）停滞。

参考例句：

• Mummies of pleistocene ground sloths, with original skin, hair, tendons and claws have been found. 还发现了保存原有皮肤，毛发，腱和爪的更新世时期地面树懒的木乃伊。
• He was inspired by fossils of armadillos and sloths. 犰狳和树懒化石让他获得了灵感。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 morbidity   

n.病态；不健全；发病；发病率

参考例句：

• MC's also significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality induced by honeybee venom. 肥大细胞同样也能显著降低蜜蜂毒液诱发疾病的发病率和死亡率。 来自互联网
• The result shows that incidence of myopia morbidity is 44.84%. 结果表明：近视眼的发病率为44.84%。 来自互联网

7 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

8 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。

9 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

10 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。