Experts have issued a new warning about the dangers of terrifying ‘sloth fever’ after the virus was passed from a pregnant woman to her unborn baby, resulting in a stillbirth.
The Oropouche virus, nicknamed ‘sloth fever’, caused alarm earlier this year after spreading beyond its usual South American range to Spain, Italy, Germany and the US.
The virus – named after the animal in which it was initially spotted – has no vaccine or specific treatment.
It is known to cause headache, muscle pain, stiff joints, nausea, chills, sensitivity to light and vomiting.
However, it can quickly cross the blood-brain barrier and enter the central nervous system, where it can cause meningitis and, in extreme cases, be fatal.
It is most commonly spread by biting insects, but there is limited evidence that it can pass through sex.
Until now, experts thought only two cases of transmission of the virus between mother and child had been confirmed.
In further alarming evidence of the virus’s potential to cause catastrophic consequences, medics have now reported another case that resulted in stillbirth.
The Oropouche virus, nicknamed ‘sloth fever’, caused alarm earlier this year after spreading from its usual South American range, with cases reported as far away as Spain, Italy, Germany and the US.
Medics documented the case in the northeastern Brazilian state of Ceará, where a 40-year-old woman who was 30 weeks pregnant became infected with the oropouche virus.
The unnamed woman developed fever, chills, muscle aches and severe headaches in July this year.
Just three days later, she started experiencing light vaginal bleeding and dark discharge from the area.
Her symptoms would continue for the next nine days and although signs initially suggested the fetus was fine, subsequent scans confirmed her baby had died during this period.
Molecular testing of samples taken from her confirmed that she was infected with the oropouche virus.
Tests on the stillborn child, a boy, revealed no developmental abnormalities, but analysis revealed the presence of the virus in his brain, spinal fluid, lungs, liver, umbilical cord and placenta.
Writing in the New England Journal of MedicineThe authors said: ‘These findings highlight the risks of oropouche virus infection during pregnancy and the need to consider this infection in pregnant women with fever or other suggestive symptoms who live in or visit regions where the virus is endemic or emerging.’
It comes just months after more than a dozen cases of the oropouche virus were discovered across Europe.
A new warning has been issued about the potentially fatal consequences of ‘sloth fever’ following the death of an unborn child
Although oropouche is also called “sloth fever,” it is not spread directly by the animals themselves, but by small biting insects such as mosquitoes that can transmit the disease from the sloths to other animals, including humans.
Oropouche symptoms usually begin four to eight days after being bitten.
Although potentially fatal, fatal consequences are extremely rare and recovery from the disease is common. In most cases, symptoms disappear within four days of onset.
The exact impact of Oropouche on pregnancy is still being studied by experts. However, cases of miscarriage and an increased risk of a birth defect called microcephaly, which causes babies to have very small heads, have been documented before.
The virus belongs to the same family of pathogens as Zika, which is known to increase the risk of miscarriage and birth defects.
The number of cases of oropouche remains low in Europe, with all cases believed to be linked to people traveling to affected areas and becoming ill on their return.
However, between January and mid-July this year, more than 8,000 cases were recorded in Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Columbia and Cuba.
Due to the high number of cases, European health officials warned citizens traveling to or living in epidemic areas of a moderate risk of infection.
The spot pattern on the insect’s wings is characteristic of mosquitoes and mosquitoes that carry the ‘sloth virus’
They advised people in the affected areas to wear long-sleeved insect repellent shirts and long trousers to reduce the risk of bites.
Experts say the oropouche is unlikely to develop in countries with cooler climates such as Britain, but could become a problem for people traveling abroad.
Analysis of the current oropouche strain suggests that it has become more efficient at infecting humans and this could be a reason for the rise in cases and in areas where the disease has not previously been observed.
Climate change is believed to be contributing to the rise because habitat destruction has increased interactions between humans and the animals that may be carriers of the disease.
Oropouche was first seen in an area of the same name in Trinidad and Tobago in 1955.
Five years later, during highway construction, a sloth was tested and found to be wearing the oropouche, giving rise to its nickname.
However, several animals, not just sloths, are believed to be potential carriers of the virus.
Most previous outbreaks of the virus, of which there have been more than 30, have occurred in the Amazon basin.