In a bulletin issued with data up to Wednesday (15th), the Ministry of Health reported an increase in cases of Oropouche fever across Brazil. In total, 5,102 cases have been recorded since the beginning of the year, of which 2,947 are in Amazonas, while 1,528 are in Rondônia.
Other confirmed and under-investigation cases have been reported in states such as Acre, Amapá, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Maranhão, Pará, Paraná, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, Roraima, and Santa Catarina.
The Secretary of Health Surveillance and Environment of the Ministry of Health, Ethel Maciel, stated that this spread of Oropouche fever to other states has been happening for a few weeks. "We no longer have just that concentration in the northern region, as it happened initially. We thought it would remain concentrated, but there has been spreading," she says.
Oropouche fever generally affects people aged between 20 and 29, followed by the age group of 30 to 39.
For control, the secretary states that guidelines for clinical observation of the disease have been constructed. "We did not have a manual or protocol for Oropouche fever," she says.