Global health alert: New virus spreads across continents amid climate and urbanisation concerns

In a world where international travel is as common as hopping on a bus, the spread of infectious diseases can be rapid and alarming.

Recently, a new health alert emerged as a debilitating virus, initially linked to sloths, that began spreading more widely.

This development has raised concerns among health officials and the public alike, highlighting the importance of staying informed and vigilant about emerging infectious threats.


The latest health scare to hit the headlines is the ‘sloth fever’ virus, scientifically known as the Oropouche virus.

According to the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC), 19 confirmed cases have made their way to Europe in the past two months.

The Oropouche virus, transmitted to humans through insect bites—including those from midges and mosquitoes—has been known to cause debilitating symptoms.


compressed-shutterstock_2499591503.jpeg
The Oropouche virus, originally from sloths and spread by insect bites, has been reported in Europe for the first time with 19 confirmed cases. Credit: Shutterstock


Spain reported twelve cases, Italy had five, and Germany recorded two. The disease has no vaccine and originated from pale-throated sloths, non-human primates, and birds.

Experts note that the virus belongs to the same family as the Zika and Dengue viruses, both of which can be fatal.

Symptoms of Oropouche include headaches, nausea, vomiting, and muscle and joint pain.

Dr Danny Altmann, a professor of Immunology at Imperial College London, stated, ‘We should definitely be worried. Things are changing and may become unstoppable.’


According to the NHS Travax website, symptoms usually begin four to eight days after a bite, with severe cases potentially leading to meningitis.

While the disease can be deadly, the ECDC reported that fatal outcomes are extremely rare, and most people recover within four days.

Recent outbreaks have been reported across South America, Central America, and the Caribbean, with specific cases in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, and Cuba in 2024.

In Europe, eighteen cases have been linked to recent travel to Cuba, and one case in Italy involved travel to Brazil.


A report in The Lancet revealed two deaths of young women who had no other underlying health conditions from Oropouche in Brazil on July 25, marking the first fatalities due to the virus.

Although European cases remain low, more than 8,000 infections were recorded in Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Columbia, and Cuba between January and mid-July this year.

The ECDC assessed the risk for EU citizens travelling to or residing in outbreak areas as moderate and advised using insect repellent and wearing protective clothing to reduce bite risks.


First identified in the village of Oropouche in Trinidad and Tobago in 1955, the virus was linked to sloths during the construction of the Belem-Brasilia highway five years later.

Since then, about 30 outbreaks have occurred, primarily in the Amazon basin.

The virus is spread by midges and mosquitoes in urban areas, and it is worsened by deforestation and urbanisation, which have displaced wildlife and expanded the range of biting insects.

Rising temperatures from climate change have also led to midges travelling farther, while increased rainfall and flooding create ideal conditions for these biting insects to breed.


As concerns grow over the spread of debilitating viruses originating from wildlife, it's crucial to stay informed about other potential health threats.

Just as we navigate the challenges posed by the Oropouche virus, experts are also sounding alarms about a looming avian influenza threat in Australia.

Understanding these emerging risks and taking preventive measures can help safeguard our health in these uncertain times.
Key Takeaways
  • The Oropouche virus, which is spread by insect bites and originated in sloths, has been reported in humans for the first time in Europe, with 19 confirmed cases.
  • Symptoms of the virus include headaches, nausea, vomiting, and muscle and joint pains, and in severe cases, it can result in meningitis.
  • There is currently no vaccine for the Oropouche virus, which has caused outbreaks in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean, and the European Center for Disease Control has assessed the likelihood of infection for EU citizens travelling to epidemic areas as moderate.
  • Prevention measures advised by the European authority include wearing insect repellent and protective clothing, and increased deforestation, urbanisation, and climate change are contributing factors to the spread of the virus.
What are your thoughts about this emerging health threat? How do you think we could protect ourselves from such diseases? Let us know your insights and suggestions in the comments below.
 
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Here we go again!
More scaremongering rubbish!
I will just add it to my “WE ARE DOOMED” scaremongering list at# 61.
See below.

We are doomed.

What is going to kill us according to media scaremongering compiled from 2021.

1: Influenza,
2: Covid-19,
3: Delta & Omicron BA4 & BA-5 and CENTAURUS
4: MonkeyPox,
5: Japanese Encephalitis,
6: Polio,
7: Measels,
8: Dengue Fever,
9: Global STI,
10: Diphtheria,
11: RSV,
12: Foot and Mouth,
13: Marburg - Ebola like,
14:Ebola,
15: Varroa Mite,
16: Death by space junk,
17: Earth Rotating 1.59 milliseconds faster than the normal 24 hours causing,Climate change - floods, cold & heat,
18: Nuclear war,
19: Listeria
20: SOLAR FLARES
21: Langya Henipavirus
22: Meningococcal
23: Tomato Flu
(2022)
24: Add variant BA.2.75 to #3 on the Covid list!
25: Toxoplasma gondii parasite
26: Murder Hornets
27: MYSTERY ILLNESS
28: Once in 50 year floods
29: Leptospirosis
30: Ross River virus
31: Zika virus
32: Buruli Ulcers
33: West Nile Fever
34: Skeeter Syndrome
35: Malaria
36: New Covid variants - BQ.1 & “Nightmare” variant XXB

So we have had Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Omnicron BA-4& BA-5,Centaurus

BA-2.75 and now BQ.1.1 (Cerberus), XBB.1.5 (Kraken)
37: Mosquitoes
38: Funnel Web Spiders
39: Covid Variant XBF
40: Supermassive Black hole - Earth to be devoured!
41: Covid Strain Kraken XBB.1.5 - “the worst in the world”
42: Covid strain Eric’s EG.5.1
43: Medical experts are warning a looming “triple threat virus” could hit Australia hard during flu season this winter (2023) — so now is the time to get vaccinated to avoid serious illness.

A new mix of illnesses is set to emerge in the colder season, with a combination of the flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) creating a horror run of widespread illness in countries across the northern hemisphere.
44: Asteroid hitting earth (This certainly hasn’t happened)
45: Scarlet Fever
46: El Niño - Extreme Heat, Fires, Droughts

(September, October, November & December 2023)
47: Deadly Thunderstorm Asthma season - violent thunderstorms causing deadly

Asthma (How can this be in El Niño conditions?)(September 2023)
48: Legionnaires Disease (Devastating consequences from potting mix) - (September 2023)
49: Latest Covid variant: Pirola BA.2.86 “Highly Mutated”

One case in Australia as of 21st September 2023
50: Opioid Fentanyl - 1,000’s of overdoses in Victoria (26th September 2023)
51: Metapneumovirus (HMPV) - NSW (September 2023)
52: Whooping Cough (November2023)
53: Confirmed cases of influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) made a 'triple whammy' of health threats, straining healthcare systems and communities. (Winter 2024)
54: New Covid variant “FLIRT” - More contagious but less severe. (Winter 2024)
55: Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) - (May 2024)
56: Avian Influenza - New deadly strain. H5N1 - (July2024)
57: Legionnaires Disease (Devastating consequences from potting mix) - (September 2023

[#48]& August 2024). Didn’t kill us in 2023 and won’t in 2024.
58: STI - Syphilis & Gonorrhoea. (August 2024) New report flags major increase in sexually transmitted infections, amidst challenges in HIV and hepatitis
59: Scabies - Super Infectious (August 2024) Scabies outbreak in NSW’s Illawarra region south of Sydney climbs to 38 patients | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site
60: Great Barrier Reef - Mass Destruction. “Catastrophic” Temperatures (August 2024) https://www.9news.com.au/national/g...qsMdti3yXHCSmpdFuI_aem_vWN9vffWaixRNsK3qczjGg
61: Sloth virus - Terrifying “UNSTOPPABLE” virus spreading throughout Europe!

How long before islands in Australia and wipes us out (August 2024)

Warning as terrifying ‘sloth virus’ spreads to Europe | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site



Future virus and or Pandemics!

1: Coronaviridae

2: Flaviviridae

3: Togaviridae

4: Orthomyxoviridae

5: Paramyxoviridae

Gotta say, that's an impressive list. It's a wonder anyone on the planet is still alive.
 
China manufacturers most of the world's consumer goods. Why not extend that to diseases? :ROFLMAO:

Can I order a virulent strain of anthrax to my specifications?
I forget the name of the Scottish island where the British Army tested the efficacy of fresh-brewed anthrax in killing Germans.There were no Germans on the island but it caused adverse events among the sheep living there. When I was a young lad, that island still had the potential to kill Germans, so I was told, but no Germans ever went there so we will never know the ultimate results.
 
This is why I only purchase salt from the salt mines of Maras, Peru.

Just one problem. Due to having the highest concentration of lithium of all commercially available table salts, I am at risk of self combustion....
Since blood may be regarded as an electrolyte you could become a battery!
 
Here we go again SDC, fear-mongering, ‘We should definitely be worried. Things are changing and may become unstoppable.’:ROFLMAO:

The boy who cried wolf, right? We're all very sick and tired of it. Just stop! And go get your booster. Coz there WILL be many, many more boosters and vaccines...
Talk to me in a month when this is shown to be nothing but another scam.
But hey! You go on ahead and get your shots.
Safety first, remember.

It may have been an AI voice creator, but I seem to remember Bill Gates saying that in the next Pandemic there will be no vaccine hesitancy - people will be crying out to get a vaccine.

Funny how Gates always knows this stuff ... and I know it seems odd, but not only do he and Fauci own the patents and are heavily invested in these companies that make these shots, but his predictions are always spot on.
 
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Reactions: Kitterly
Last time I got bitten by midges they wuz animals, a bit small, and with wings, or maybe they were tiny little bots flying around to inject me with microchips from sea-salt. MS-quitoes; well known and same thing but a bit larger than midges.
Their insects 🙄
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kitterly
Here we go again!
More scaremongering rubbish!
I will just add it to my “WE ARE DOOMED” scaremongering list at# 61.
See below.

We are doomed.

What is going to kill us according to media scaremongering compiled from 2021.

1: Influenza,
2: Covid-19,
3: Delta & Omicron BA4 & BA-5 and CENTAURUS
4: MonkeyPox,
5: Japanese Encephalitis,
6: Polio,
7: Measels,
8: Dengue Fever,
9: Global STI,
10: Diphtheria,
11: RSV,
12: Foot and Mouth,
13: Marburg - Ebola like,
14:Ebola,
15: Varroa Mite,
16: Death by space junk,
17: Earth Rotating 1.59 milliseconds faster than the normal 24 hours causing,Climate change - floods, cold & heat,
18: Nuclear war,
19: Listeria
20: SOLAR FLARES
21: Langya Henipavirus
22: Meningococcal
23: Tomato Flu
(2022)
24: Add variant BA.2.75 to #3 on the Covid list!
25: Toxoplasma gondii parasite
26: Murder Hornets
27: MYSTERY ILLNESS
28: Once in 50 year floods
29: Leptospirosis
30: Ross River virus
31: Zika virus
32: Buruli Ulcers
33: West Nile Fever
34: Skeeter Syndrome
35: Malaria
36: New Covid variants - BQ.1 & “Nightmare” variant XXB

So we have had Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Omnicron BA-4& BA-5,Centaurus

BA-2.75 and now BQ.1.1 (Cerberus), XBB.1.5 (Kraken)
37: Mosquitoes
38: Funnel Web Spiders
39: Covid Variant XBF
40: Supermassive Black hole - Earth to be devoured!
41: Covid Strain Kraken XBB.1.5 - “the worst in the world”
42: Covid strain Eric’s EG.5.1
43: Medical experts are warning a looming “triple threat virus” could hit Australia hard during flu season this winter (2023) — so now is the time to get vaccinated to avoid serious illness.

A new mix of illnesses is set to emerge in the colder season, with a combination of the flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) creating a horror run of widespread illness in countries across the northern hemisphere.
44: Asteroid hitting earth (This certainly hasn’t happened)
45: Scarlet Fever
46: El Niño - Extreme Heat, Fires, Droughts

(September, October, November & December 2023)
47: Deadly Thunderstorm Asthma season - violent thunderstorms causing deadly

Asthma (How can this be in El Niño conditions?)(September 2023)
48: Legionnaires Disease (Devastating consequences from potting mix) - (September 2023)
49: Latest Covid variant: Pirola BA.2.86 “Highly Mutated”

One case in Australia as of 21st September 2023
50: Opioid Fentanyl - 1,000’s of overdoses in Victoria (26th September 2023)
51: Metapneumovirus (HMPV) - NSW (September 2023)
52: Whooping Cough (November2023)
53: Confirmed cases of influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) made a 'triple whammy' of health threats, straining healthcare systems and communities. (Winter 2024)
54: New Covid variant “FLIRT” - More contagious but less severe. (Winter 2024)
55: Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) - (May 2024)
56: Avian Influenza - New deadly strain. H5N1 - (July2024)
57: Legionnaires Disease (Devastating consequences from potting mix) - (September 2023

[#48]& August 2024). Didn’t kill us in 2023 and won’t in 2024.
58: STI - Syphilis & Gonorrhoea. (August 2024) New report flags major increase in sexually transmitted infections, amidst challenges in HIV and hepatitis
59: Scabies - Super Infectious (August 2024) Scabies outbreak in NSW’s Illawarra region south of Sydney climbs to 38 patients | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site
60: Great Barrier Reef - Mass Destruction. “Catastrophic” Temperatures (August 2024) https://www.9news.com.au/national/g...qsMdti3yXHCSmpdFuI_aem_vWN9vffWaixRNsK3qczjGg
61: Sloth virus - Terrifying “UNSTOPPABLE” virus spreading throughout Europe!

How long before islands in Australia and wipes us out (August 2024)

Warning as terrifying ‘sloth virus’ spreads to Europe | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site



Future virus and or Pandemics!

1: Coronaviridae

2: Flaviviridae

3: Togaviridae

4: Orthomyxoviridae

5: Paramyxoviridae
Very comprehensive list.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BruceC and Kitterly

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