Oropouche Fever: Acre has the 3rd highest test positivity rate for the disease

Oropouche fever is an acute infectious disease caused by the virus of the same name. In 2024, Acre appears to have the third highest test positivity rate for the disease, with 66 detectable tests and a 43.7% positivity rate.

The data comes from the Ministry of Health, through the Emergency Operations Center (COE), through the Weekly Report, referring to Epidemiological Week (SE) 01 to 12, with data updated this Tuesday (27). Acre is behind only Rondônia, with 46.5% and Mato Grosso, with 44.04% in the positivity rate.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, 174 cases were registered in Acre throughout 2023. In 2024, in just three months, 68 cases were reported. Throughout Brazil, the highest number of cases are registered in the age group of 30 to 39 years, in men and women.

Its transmitters in nature are mosquitoes such as Aedes serratus (Pará) and Coquillettidia venezuelensis (Trinidad)/Photo: Reproduction

In 2023, Acre registered 171 detectable tests, with a positivity rate of 40.3%, appearing as the highest rate in Brazil.

“As of 2023, the detection of cases of Oropouche Fever (FO) in the states of the Amazon region, considered endemic, has increased as a result of the decentralization of biomolecular diagnosis to part of the country’s Central Public Health Laboratories (Lacen). In 2023, 832 samples had detectable molecular biology laboratory diagnosis (RT-qPCR) for the Oropouche virus (OROV). In 2024, up to SE-11, 3,173 samples had detectable results for the virus”, says an excerpt from the bulletin.

The Secretary of Health, Pedro Pascoal, in an interview with ContilNet in January this year stated that mEven with a considerable increase of 106% in dengue cases compared to 2023, more than half of the cases analyzed are, in fact, of oropouche fever, an infectious disease very present in the Americas and with cases already registered in Acre.

“60% of dengue cases that tested negative were sent for another sequencing study and tested positive for oropouche fever, a disease that has been known for a long time, but is now being studied more. We observed that the symptoms are very similar to dengue symptoms, but these patients do not initially develop into a serious condition. So, there is already a mobilization of health in Acre for studies in the states so that we can outline actions”, stated the secretary.

What are the causes of oropouche fever?

Oropouche fever occurs in two cycles, wild and urban. In the wild cycle, it generally infects monkeys and sloths, as well as wild birds.

Its transmitters in nature are mosquitoes such as Aedes serratus (Pará) and Coquillettidia venezuelensis (Trinidad).