A terrifying “sloth fever” capable of killing people in their early twenties is reported to have struck Europe for the first time.
Experts have warned the Oropouche virus disease — which can bring on symptoms like joint stiffness, nausea and vomiting — could be “unstoppable” after outbreaks in Cuba and Brazil. Two Italian travellers returning from Cuba were among those hospitalised with symptoms of the deadly bug.
According to The Mirror, a 26-year-old woman fell ill with fever and diarrhoea after visiting Cuba’s Ciego de Avila province. She returned to Verona on May 26 with the virus, which gets its name because it is spread via mosquitos from sloths.
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A 45-year-old man, meanwhile, sought medical help in Forlì, northern Italy, on June 7. It came shortly after he returened from a summer holiday in Havana and Santiago de Cuba.
The virus has already claimed its first victims in Brazil. Two young women, aged 21 and 24, tragically died on July 25 after suffering from intense abdominal pain, bleeding and dangerously low blood pressure.
Other symptoms of Oropouche fever can include headaches, high temperature, muscle soreness, colds and light sensitivity. The threat to Europe is compounded by the potential impact of global warming, one expert said.
Dr Concetta Castilletti, who leads the Virology and Emerging Pathogens Unit at a hospital near Verona, explained: “Climate change and the increase in the movement of human populations risk making viruses [that were] once confined to the tropical belt endemic even in our latitudes.”
Dr Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London, added people should definitely be worried. “Things are changing and may become unstoppable,” he told The Telegraph.
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