Oropouche Virus Importation in Southern Brazil and Emerging Concern Calling for Enhanced Public Health Surveillance
Oropouche virus (OROV), an arthropod-borne virus transmitted by Culicoides paraensis, is an endemic arbovirus that historically circulates mostly in the Amazon basin. Between 2022 and 2024, it reemerged as a more widespread public health concern in South America. We conducted a pooled-sample molecular surveillance study to understand the prevalence of Oropouche fever in Brazil's southernmost state. Over 18 months, we analyzed 4060 samples to monitor the virus emergence in the Rio Grande do Sul state. We detected the first human case of OROV in the state, and our phylogenetic reconstruction indicated a travel-related introduction from the Amazon region into Rio Grande do Sul. Despite the absence of local transmission, the invasion of Culicoides paraensis and enzootic circulation of the OROV in Rio Grande do Sul highlight the risk of Oropouche fever outbreaks in the region. We demonstrated that pooled-sample surveillance effectively monitors virus introduction during periods of low endemic circulation, serving as an essential active surveillance tool for the timely detection of virus emergence and enhancing public health preparedness. The multiple introductions of distinct OROV lineages into southern Brazil underscore the importance of genomic surveillance and public health strategies to monitor and mitigate arbovirus spread in the region.
Authors
- Marcelo Henrique Santos Paiva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3069-9417)
- Valeska Lizzi Lagranha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1967-3750)
- Gustavo Barbosa de Lima (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7000-2026)
- Gabriel Luz Wallau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1419-5713)
- Ludmila Fiorenzano Baethgen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4871-8877)
- Ana Beatriz Gorini da Veiga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1462-5506)
- Richard Steiner Salvato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5701-9437)
- Fernanda Godinho
- Bartolomeu Acioli‐Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4994-0648)
- Tatiana Schäffer Gregianini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9912-9060)
- Elverson Soares de Melo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3012-2503)
- Amanda Pellenz Ruivo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2955-7701)
- Alexandre Freitas da Silva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8034-8562)
- Laura Bauermann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5022-792X)
- Thales Bermann
- Franciellen Machado dos Santos
- Caio Eduardo Octavio de Moraes
Institutions
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (BR)
- Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre (BR)
- Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (BR)
- Secretaria da Saúde (BR)
- Fundação Estadual de Produção e Pesquisa em Saúde (BR)
- Universidade Luterana do Brasil (BR)
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (BR)
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Medical Virology
- Published
- 2025-08-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.70557
- Primary Topic
- Mosquito-borne diseases and control
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul
- Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz