Emergence of Oropouche virus among international travelers: Correspondence

Dear Editor,

The article “Emergence of Oropouche virus among international travelers: A growing concern in non-endemic areas¹” is very interesting. Although this study is useful for reporting Oropouche virus-associated travel-related cases, it has raised concern in the epidemiology community regarding new infectious illnesses, particularly in light of the 2024 outbreak. However, it has considerable limitations, including the fact that just one case was discovered out of 43 screened, making it impossible to draw systematic conclusions about the outbreak's trends or clinical characteristics. Furthermore, it is a case report, which is better suited for public health alerts than statistics or policy recommendations.

Although RT-PCR was used to diagnose viral infections, there were no details on the types of other samples tested, such as blood, cerebrospinal fluid, or respiratory secretions, nor was there any quantitative data on the viral load or timing of sample collection relative to the onset of symptoms, which would have improved our understanding of the virus's pathogenesis and shedding patterns in the body.

Questions to consider include: Does the presence of Oropouche virus in urine for more than a month following symptoms suggest actual viral persistence, or is it simply a piece of non-transmissible genetic material? Should we establish new criteria for the proper timing of sample collection for RT-PCR testing? Furthermore, concerns should be raised concerning screening techniques for individuals with dengue-like symptoms, particularly those arriving from Latin American nations during epidemics.

Future research should focus on large-scale clinical and epidemiological studies of Oropouche virus, with an emphasis on follow-up of confirmed cases, as well as prospective studies to systematically analyze shedding time in a variety of biological samples, developing risk maps of potential source countries, and evaluating preventive measures for travelers, such as the use of mosquito repellents or disease surveillance measures in destination countries, among other things.

Authors’ contribution

HP 50% ideas, writing, analyzing, approval.

VW 50% ideas, supervision, approval.

Ethical approval

Not applicable.

AI declaration

The author use language editing computational tool in preparation of the article.

Financial statement

There is no declared financial conflict.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict.

Data availability

There is no new data generated.