Short Report: Identification of Oropouche Orthobunyavirus in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of Three Patients in the Amazonas, Brazil

• Published in: The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 86; no. 4; pp. 732 - 735
• Main Authors: SOUZA BASTOS, Michele De, MORAES FIGUEIREDO, Luiz Tadeu, GOMES NAVECA, Felipe, LINS MONTE, Rossicleia, LESSA, Natália, DE FIGUEIREDO, Regina Maria Pinto, DE LIMA GIMAQUE, Joao Bosco, PIVOTO JOAO, Guilherme, RAMASAWMY, Rajendranath, GOMES MOURAO, Maria Paula
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Deerfield, IL American Society of Tropical Medecine and Hygiene 01-04-2012; The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; South America; Brazil; America; Human; Tropical medicine; Identification; Cerebrospinal fluid
• ISSN: 0002-9637; 1476-1645
• DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.2012.11-0485

Oropouche fever is the second most frequent arboviral infection in Brazil, surpassed only by dengue. Oropouche virus (OROV) causes large and explosive outbreaks of acute febrile illness in cities and villages in the Amazon and Central-Plateau regions. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 110 meningoencephalitis patients were analyzed. The RNA extracted from fluid was submitted to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and sequencing to identify OROV. Three CSF samples showed the presence of OROV causing infection in the central nervous system (CNS). These patients are adults. Two of the patients had other diseases affecting CNS and immune systems: neurocysticercosis and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, respectively. Nucleotide sequence analysis showed that the OROV from the CSF of these patients belonged to genotype I. We show here that severe Oropouche disease is occurring during outbreaks of this virus in Brazil