de Melo Iani Felipe Campos, Pereira Felicidade Mota, de Oliveira Elaine Cristina, Rodrigues Janete Taynã Nascimento, Machado Mariza Hoffmann, Fonseca Vagner, Adelino Talita Emile Ribeiro, Guimarães Natália Rocha, Tomé Luiz Marcelo Ribeiro, Gómez Marcela Kelly Astete, Nardy Vanessa Brandão, Ribeiro Adriana Aparecida, Rosewell Alexander, Ferreira Álvaro Gil A, Silva de Mello Arabela Leal E, Fernandes Brenda Machado Moura, de Albuquerque Carlos Frederico Campelo, Dos Santos Pereira Dejanira, Pimentel Eline Carvalho, Lima Fábio Guilherme Mesquita, Silva Fernanda Viana Moreira, de Carvalho Pereira Glauco, Tegally Houriiyah, Almeida Júlia Deffune Profeta Cidin, Moreno Keldenn Melo Farias, Vasconcelos Klaucia Rodrigues, Santos Leandro Cavalcante, Silva Lívia Cristina Machado, Frutuoso Livia C V, Lamounier Ludmila Oliveira, Costa Mariana Araújo, de Oliveira Marília Santini, Dos Anjos Marlei Pickler Dediasi, Ciccozzi Massimo, Lima Maurício Teixeira, Pereira Maira Alves, Rocha Marília Lima Cruz, de Souza da Silva Paulo Eduardo, Rabinowitz Peter M, de Almeida Priscila Souza, Lessells Richard, Gazzinelli Ricardo T, da Cunha Rivaldo Venâncio, Gonçalves Sabrina, Dos Santos Sara Cândida Ferreira, de Alcântara Belettini Senele Ana, Pedroso Silvia Helena Sousa Pietra, Araújo Sofia Isabel Rótulo, da Silva Stephanni Figueiredo, Croda Julio, Maciel Ethel, Van Voorhis Wes, Martin Darren P, Holmes Edward C, de Oliveira Tulio, Lourenço José, Alcantara Luiz Carlos Junior, Giovanetti Marta
Central Public Health Laboratory of the State of Minas Gerais, Ezequiel Dias Foundation, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 30.510-010, Brazil.
Central Public Health Laboratory of the State of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, 41745-900, Brazil.
J Travel Med. 2025 Mar 30;32(3). doi: 10.1093/jtm/taaf018.
Oropouche virus (OROV), first detected in Trinidad and Tobago in 1955, was historically confined to the Brazilian Amazon Basin. However, since late 2022, an increasing number of OROV cases have been reported across various regions of Brazil as well as in urban centers in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Colombia, Cuba, Panama, and Peru. In collaboration with Central Public Health Laboratories across Brazil, we integrated epidemiological metadata with genomic analyses from recent cases, generating 133 whole-genome sequences covering the virus's three genomic segments (L, M, and S). These include the first genomes from regions outside the Amazon and from the first recorded fatal cases. Phylogenetic analyses show that the 2024 OROV genomes form a monophyletic group with sequences from the Amazon Basin sampled since 2022, revealing a rapid north-to-south viral movement into historically non-endemic areas. We identified 21 reassortment events, though it remains unclear whether these genomic changes have facilitated viral adaptation to local ecological conditions or contributed to phenotypic traits of public health significance. Our findings demonstrate how OROV has evolved through reassortment and spread rapidly across multiple states in Brazil, leading to the largest outbreak ever recorded outside the Amazon and the first confirmed fatalities. Additionally, by analysing travel-related cases, we provide the first insights into the international spread of OROV beyond Brazil, further highlighting the role of human mobility in its dissemination. The virus's recent rapid geographic expansion and the emergence of severe cases emphasize the urgent need for enhanced surveillance across the Americas. In the absence of significant human population changes over the past two years, factors such as viral adaptation, deforestation, and climate shifts-either individually or in combination-may have facilitated the spread of OROV beyond the Amazon Basin through both local and travel-associated transmission.
奥罗普切病毒（OROV）于1955年在特立尼达和多巴哥首次被发现，历史上局限于巴西亚马逊盆地。然而，自2022年末以来，巴西各地区以及玻利维亚、厄瓜多尔、圭亚那、哥伦比亚、古巴、巴拿马和秘鲁的城市中心报告的奥罗普切病毒病例越来越多。我们与巴西各地的中央公共卫生实验室合作，将流行病学元数据与近期病例的基因组分析相结合，生成了133个全基因组序列，涵盖该病毒的三个基因组片段（L、M和S）。这些序列包括来自亚马逊以外地区的首个基因组以及首例有记录的死亡病例的基因组。系统发育分析表明，2024年的奥罗普切病毒基因组与2022年以来在亚马逊盆地采集的序列形成一个单系群，揭示了病毒从北到南迅速向历史上的非流行地区传播。我们识别出21次重配事件，不过尚不清楚这些基因组变化是否促进了病毒对当地生态条件的适应，或者是否导致了具有公共卫生意义的表型特征。我们的研究结果表明奥罗普切病毒如何通过重配进化并在巴西多个州迅速传播，导致了亚马逊以外地区有记录以来最大规模的疫情爆发以及首例确诊死亡病例。此外，通过分析与旅行相关的病例，我们首次深入了解了奥罗普切病毒在巴西以外的国际传播情况，进一步凸显了人员流动在其传播中的作用。该病毒近期迅速的地理扩张以及重症病例的出现强调了在美洲加强监测的迫切需求。在过去两年中没有显著的人口变化的情况下，病毒适应、森林砍伐和气候变化等因素，无论是单独还是共同作用，都可能通过本地传播和与旅行相关的传播促进了奥罗普切病毒在亚马逊盆地以外的传播。
