More than 400 cases of Oropouche virus have been reported till August

The Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, said at the start of an international event in Havana this Monday that since the discovery of the Oroboch virus in Cuba on May 27, more than 400 cases have been confirmed until August on the island.

“As of early August, the country recorded the presence of the Oropouche virus in all provinces, with more than 400 confirmed cases”The health chief said in quoted reports CubePadA statistic that contradicts reports on social media about the rise in disease on the island.

According to data revealed by the portal Miranda, Cuba will take second place in the United States in terms of the number of infections caused by this disease until August 1. It counts 8,076 confirmed cases in five countries, including Brazil (7,284), Bolivia (356), Peru (290) and Colombia (74).

Only one Two deaths linked to the virus were reported by Brazil in late July.

Portal Miranda made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 18th edition of the International Course on Dengue and Other Emerging Arboviruses at the Pedro Kourí institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK) in Havana, with the participation of World Health Organization (WHO) officials. .

The minister did not explain whether the published statistics only take into account cases confirmed by laboratory diagnosis, which are not used in practice due to the lack of reagents and other materials on the island.

The number of Oropouche virus cases in Cuba cited by Portal Miranda Contrasted with 35,000 cases named “endemic channel of febrile syndrome”.The Ministry of Health announced in a television schedule round table In early July.

In recent days, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Due to the increase in cases, they issued a level 2 alert on a scale of 4 Oropouche virus in Cuba.

American officials They recommended that travelers take enhanced preventive measures to avoid this arboviral disease and advised pregnant women not to visit the island unless unavoidable.

The warning comes at a time when Cuba is facing an epidemiological crisis as the disease spreads rapidly across the country after the first cases were confirmed in Santiago de Cuba in late May.

On its website, the CDC warned, “Several cases of Oropouche have recently been reported among American and European travelers returning from travel to Cuba, indicating an ongoing risk.”

Cuba's own Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) confirms that the disease is present throughout the national territory, including the Isle of Youth.

Oropouche, often confused with dengue due to the similarity of its symptoms, can occur at any age.

Symptoms include high fever, headache, muscle aches, joint stiffness, nausea, vomiting, chills and sensitivity to light.

Cases imported into Europe

Cases of the Oropouche virus imported into Europe have been increasing in recent weeks, mostly through travelers from Cuba. At least 19 people have already been identifiedAccording to data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

In the most recent information on the behavior of this disease, the ECDC confirmed that the number of cases of Oropouche virus imported into Spain between June and July rose to 12, all related to trips to Cuba or Brazil, the agency noted in recent days. F.

Likewise, he reported that so far Italy (5) and Germany (2) have the virus; Eighteen cases have travel history to Cuba and one to Brazil.

In early August, the ECDC confirmed two cases of Oropouche registered in Germany, while increasing those detected in Italy to four.

In mid-July, the ECDC revealed six cases of the disease in Europe: three in Spain and the same number in Italy.