Oropouche virus: transmission, epidemiology, genetic diversity, and public health implications
midges, while the competence of other vectors, the role of animal reservoirs in sustaining sylvatic transmission, and the contribution of vertical and sexual transmission remain incompletely understood. Although most infections are self-limiting, reports of neurological disease, Guillain-Barré syndrome, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and rare fatalities highlight uncertainties regarding pathogenicity, risk factors for severe disease, and long-term sequelae. The known teratogenicity of related Simbu serogroup orthobunyaviruses in animals further raises concerns about foetal risk in humans. Environmental change, expanding vector ranges, and viral evolution are likely contributing to outbreak emergence and geographic spread. Based on the available evidence, this review highlights priority gaps in epidemiological surveillance, diagnostics and genomic monitoring, vector competence and ecology, transmission pathways, and countermeasure development. Addressing these gaps through coordinated surveillance, improved laboratory capacity, targeted vector control, and focused research will be essential to mitigate the public health impact of OROV and reduce the risk of further spread.
Authors
- Jairo Méndez‐Rico
- Malik Peiris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8217-5995)
- Senjuti Saha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6087-6766)
- Ingrid B. Rabe
- Martina McMenamin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7784-2271)
- A Fowotade
- Jason Kindrachuk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3305-7084)
- Isabelle Dietrich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6300-109X)
- Felipe Gomes Naveca (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2888-1060)
- James R. Otieno (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9790-2307)
- Vincent J. Munster (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2288-3196)
- Lionel Gresh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2333-1748)
- Christopher Ruis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0977-5534)
- Bas B. Oude Munnink (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9394-1189)
- Nada M. Melhem (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5423-4908)
- Ariamys Companioni
- Anne von Gottberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0243-7455)
- Baoying Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3766-6968)
- Esam I. Azhar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1736-181X)
- Nuno R. Faria
- Leon Caly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2846-6729)
- Gustavo Palacios (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5062-1938)
- Maria D. Van Kerkhove (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6135-0018)
- Lorenzo Subissi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5147-575X)
- Korber Bette
- Pragya Yadav
- Haroldo Bezerra
- Placide Mbala-Kingebeni
- Laith Jamal Abu-Raddad
- Yee-Sin Leo
- Tulio de Oliveira
- Marion P.G. Koopmans
- Christian Drosten
- Tadaki Suzuki
- Bruno T.D. Nunes
- Diana P. Rojas
- Pablo Duran
- Andrea Vicari
- Anurag Agrawal
- Meera Chand
- Paola Resende
- Angel Rodriguez
- Martin Beer
Institutions
- National Health Laboratory Service (ZA)
- The Pirbright Institute (GB)
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (DE)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (US)
- Nanyang Technological University (SG)
- Public Health Agency of Canada (CA)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- University of Ibadan (NG)
- King Abdulaziz University (SA)
- University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
- Nagpur Institute of Technology (IN)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Stellenbosch University (ZA)
- King Abdulaziz Medical City (SA)
- Ashoka University (IN)
- National Institute of Infectious Diseases (JP)
- Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (AU)
- World Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas (US)
- World Health Organization (CH)
- New Mexico Consortium (US)
- Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine (BR)
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (US)
- National Institute of Biomedical Research (CD)
- National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention (CN)
- Instituto Evandro Chagas (BR)
- Child Health Research Foundation (BD)
- Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Pedro Kourí” (CU)
- National Centre for Infectious Diseases (SG)
- Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (QA)
- UK Health Security Agency (GB)
- University of Manitoba (CA)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (BR)
- ICMR-National Institute of Virology (IN)
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL)
- American University of Beirut (LB)
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- EClinicalMedicine
- Published
- 2026-04-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2026.103871
- Primary Topic
- Mosquito-borne diseases and control
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute
- National Institutes of Health
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council