The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday said it has received reports of 90 imported Oropouche virus from 5 states, mostly from Florida, and it also issued recommendations for male travelers to prevent possible sexual spread. 

The group has warned about the risk of infected pregnant women passing the virus to their fetuses and the possibility of poor fetal outcomes. In its latest update, the CDC also acknowledged the risk of sexual transmission, raised in a recent scientific report, but said no sexual transmission cases have been reported. 

In new interim recommendations to prevent sexual spread for travelers to affected areas, the CDC recommends that men diagnosed with Oropouche infections use condoms or abstain from sex for 6 weeks from the start of symptoms.

For those with Oropouche symptoms during travel or within 2 weeks of travel, the CDC recommends talking to a healthcare provider about testing or consider using condoms or abstaining from sex for 6 weeks since the start of symptoms.

For those planning to donate semen, the CDC said that until more is known, men who have Oropouche symptoms should wait 6 weeks before donating. Those who were potentially exposed during travel should consider waiting 6 weeks after returning from travel to donate.

Ecuador and Guyana report first Oropouche virus cases

Two new countries in the Americas region—Ecuador and Guyana—have reported their first locally acquired Oropouche virus cases, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said in its monthly update. 

Since the group’s last update in September, 423 new cases have been reported from 7 countries. The majority were from Brazil, followed by Cuba, which has also reported three cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome linked to the disease. The United States reported 69 imported cases. 

Since the first of the year, 10,275 cases of Oropouche virus, spread by some midge and mosquito species, have been reported from 9 countries. Severe fetal outcomes, including fetal death and congenital malformation, have been reported from Brazil and Cuba. 

A study in Saudi Arabia indicates that being colonized with a multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) is associated with a significantly increased risk of subsequent MDRO infection, researchers reported this week in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

The study, conducted at a tertiary care facility in Riyadh, included patients in active surveillance testing (AST) for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), or vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Researchers at the hospital compared the risk of developing a relevant invasive infection within 365 days of the AST result between colonized and non-colonized groups. 

While previous studies have documented the link between MDRO colonization and increased risk of subsequent infection, the authors of the study note that little is known about the extent of MDRO colonization in Saudi Arabia's hospitals.

VRE-colonized patients 22% more likely to develop VRE infection

A total of 19,134 ASTs conducted in 2021 were included in the analysis—4,919 for CRE, 8,303 for MRSA, and 5,912 for VRE. Nine percent of patients screened for CRE were colonized, compared with 10% for MRSA and 14% for VRE. Patient demographics were similar between colonized and non-colonized groups.

Compared with the non-colonized group, patients colonized with CRE were 4.6 times (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.3 to 6.4) more likely to develop a CRE infection, with 88% of CRE-colonized patients developing an infection with the same carbapenemase gene. MRSA-colonized patients were 8.2 times (95% CI, 4.7 to 14.3) more likely to develop a MRSA infection than non-colonized patients, and VRE-colonized patients were 22 times (95% CI, 10.1 to 48.1) more likely to develop a VRE infection. 

The median time from AST to clinical infection was reduced for patients colonized with CRE and VRE, while MRSA-colonized patients took longer to develop a clinical MRSA infection compared with non-colonized patients.

The authors say the findings highlight the need to implement AST for MDRO colonization and rigorous infection control measures to effectively mitigate transmission of these dangerous pathogens.

Rwandan scientists and partners from the World Health Organization (WHO) have launched the world’s first clinical trials for Marburg virus disease treatment. Currently, there are no approved treatments or vaccines against Marburg virus, though a clinical trial of an investigational Marburg virus vaccine from the Sabin Vaccine Institute recently launched in the country. 

Matshidiso Moeti, MBBS, head of the WHO Africa regional office, said on X today that the clinical trial will test the efficacy and safety of remdesivir as well as MBP091, a monoclonal antibody that targets Marburg virus. The drug was developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical with support from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which is part of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR).

Health ministry reports no new cases or deaths

For the third day in a row, Rwanda’s health ministry reported no new Marburg cases or deaths, keeping the outbreak total at 62 infections, 15 of them fatal. Since the outbreak was first announced, all new cases have been related to a hospital cluster and their contacts in Kigali. Officials said there is no evidence of community spread.

Eight more people recovered from their illnesses. Health workers have also vaccinated 856 people as part of the clinical trial of the Sabin Vaccine Institute’s investigational Marburg virus vaccine.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) today announced another avian flu outbreak in dairy cattle, its first since early September.

The state’s latest outbreak occurred at a farm in Clinton County, which is near Lansing. Michigan has now reported 30 outbreaks in dairy cattle.

Testing at the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory initially identified the virus, and samples will be sent for confirmation testing to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory.

If confirmed as H5N1, the detection would push the number of US outbreaks in dairy cattle to 306 from 14 states.

USDA confirms more detections in Florida dolphins

In other avian flu developments, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has confirmed three more H5N1 detections in bottlenose dolphins, which were sampled last December and January. All involved animals are from Brevard County.

The H5N1 detections in US dolphins are the first since 2022, when the virus was found in a bottlenose from Florida’s Dixie County. The clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 virus is known to infect sea mammals, including seals and sea lions, among several other mammal species.