The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 2 alert for Oropouche virus (OROV) outbreak for the Province Darién in Panama. The state Espiritu Santu in Brazil has still also a Level 2 alert. For other countries, where OROV is endemic: see LINK of CDC Level 1 countries.
Areas in Brazil and Panama with an elevated number of cases of Oropouche:
Prevention: The best way to protect yourself from Oropouche virus infection is to prevent insect bites 24/7 (also against other mosquito-borne diseases such as Dengue, Zika, Chikungunya), see factsheet mosquito bite prevention.
Pregnant women and women planning to become pregnant should be provided with comprehensive information during pre-travel consultation on the Oropouche virus outbreaks and the potential of miscarriage, fetal malformation or death.
In the event of increased OROV transmission (= declared as an OROV outbreak according CDC Level 2 Travel Health Notice for Oropouche), the Swiss Expert Commission for Travel Medicine recommends:
- Pregnant women should re-consider non-essential travel
- If travel is unavoidable, strictly adhere to insect prevention measures (see LINK) and talk to your health care provider.
- To avoid sexual transmission: males should consider using condoms during travel and up to 2 months after return.