First case of Oropouche fever detected in the international border region of the Colombian Amazon: clinical characteristics and molecular diagnosis.

Abstract

Objectives: We report the first case of Oropouche fever detected in the border region of Colombia.

Methods: Using a multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), genetic sequencing and clinical characteristics during the dengue epidemic in 2019, a total of 175 samples were analysed, from cases notified to the system epidemiological surveillance such as dengue.

Findings: The Oropouche virus (OROV) isolate from Leticia belongs to lineage 2 according to both M and S genome segments maximum likelihood (ML) analysis, shares a common ancestor with samples obtained in Esmeraldas, Ecuador and Turbaco, Colombia. The patient: a woman resident in the border neighbourhood of the municipality of Leticia had the following symptoms: fever, headache, retro-orbital pain and myalgias.

Main conclusion: This cross-border surveillance can be useful to give an alert about the entry or exit of arboviruses circulation in the region, which are often underreported in public health surveillance systems.