ROMA.- An Italian citizen who traveled to Ciego de Ávila, in the center of Cuba, Last May to visit her family, she contracted the Oropouche virus and returned to her country sick.
Upon her return to Italy, the 26-year-old patient presented symptoms such as diarrhea, general malaise, high fever, severe headache and nausea, as well as arthralgia and retro-orbital pain, detailed the organization, which develops projects in the area. of infectious diseases and travel medicine.
Although dengue was initially suspected, rapid tests for the disease were negative. Also blood and urine tests for dengue, Zika and Chikungunya viruses, the report states.
According to the iO Foundation, the patient said that “her relatives in Cuba experienced similar symptoms, where there is currently an outbreak of infection with the Oropouche virus,” which is why a specific assessment test was performed to detect that virus. virus, which confirmed the diagnosis of infection.
The Health authorities in Ciego de Avila have not reported specific cases of Oropouche in the territory, but on its Facebook account, the state agency Prosalud has been reporting since the beginning of June on arbovirus prevention efforts in the communities.
A report in the Italian press dated June 14 informs that the Department of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Microbiology of the Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Health Care (IRCCS) Sacro Cuore Don Calabria of Negrar, in Verona, diagnosed “the first case in Europe of Oropouche fever, in a patient with a recent history of travel to the tropical Caribbean region.
The first cases of Oropouche in Cuba were detected at the end of May in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos. According to reports from the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), the virus has spread to the province of Mayabeque, in the west of the island. Reports from independent media also place it in Villa Clara and some neighborhoods of Havana.
Cuba is going through a deep economic crisis, including shortages of food and medicine, which directly affects the public health system. Cubans from the island have denounced the lack of reagents in polyclinics and hospitals to carry out tests to detect diseases, including infectious pathologies such as dengue and Oropouche fever, among other difficulties.
Specialists consulted by Martí Noticias affirm that in Cuba there is currently no health infrastructure to confront the Oropouche virus.
Source: EDITORIAL/Martí Noticias
