Health officials keep watch as 'sloth fever' appears in Palm Beach County

A potentially deadly virus is now appearing across Florida and has been detected in our area.
The virus, called Oropouche, also known as 'sloth fever', causes an infection with no medicine or treatment available to fight it.
This disease was first detected in the 1950s, but in the last few years, Oropouche infections have been rampant in Cuba.
And that’s got doctors here in South Florida, like Good Samaritan Medical Centerinfectious disease and internal medicine specialist, Dr.Kleper De Almeida keeping a close eye out for possible cases.
“Sloth fever, or Oropouche virus, is a virus that is transmitted through mosquito bites," said Dr. De Almeida.
Dr. De Almeida tells CBS12 News that Oropouche has very similar symptoms to Dengue fever. But some cases can be serious.
“Body aches, pain behind the eye. Those are the main cardinal symptoms. And these are the same symptoms as Dengue," saidDr. De Almeida. “Usually, it resolves spontaneously. On rare occasions, it can go to the brain and create inflammation of the brain. And in even more rare occasions, it can lead to very serious manifestations, and there have been deaths in other countries.”
This week, the Florida Department of Health reported thirty cases in the Sunshine State,more than half of those in South Florida. So far there is just one case in Palm Beach County and none on the Treasure Coast.
All of these reported cases can be traced to travel from Cuba.
Steven Fazekas with Palm Beach County Mosquito Control tells CBS12 News one of the mosquitoes that carry this virus is all over our area.
“The southern house mosquito does exist in South America, Cuba, and South Florida," saidFazekas.
Fazekas says his team is looking out for them, but their assessment right now is that the risk is low.
“The likelihood of transmission of this in our area is really on the low end at this point. I mean, things change. They're finding out new things every day, but I would say we have other viruses that we're a bit more concerned about at the moment," said Fazekas.
At the top of the list for mosquito-borne infections right now is Dengue fever, the Florida Department of Health has counted over four hundred cases in the state as of this week. Most of those are also travel-related.
As a reminder, experts say you should clear out any places where water sits like vases, gutters, and tires because these are all mosquito breeding grounds.
They also say you can protect yourself from getting bitten by avoiding being out during peak times for mosquitoes, which is dawn and dusk.
Wearing long-sleeved shirts, and pants, and applying bug spray will also help.
for more information please visit cbs12.com/news...
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