A mysterious virus endemic in parts of South America is spreading outside the region for the first time – and it’s concerning virologists. For decades, Oropouche virus was confined to areas close to the Amazon. The first human case was discovered in the village of Oropouche in Trinidad and Tobago in 1955. Five years later, the virus was detected in Brazil from a blood sample taken from a sloth. This is why it’s sometimes referred to as “sloth fever”. Since then, there have been intermittent outbreaks in humans, but they have all been confined to forested areas, such as the Amazonas. The vector…
