Oropouche Virus: Clinical, Epidemiological, and Molecular Aspects of a Neglected Orthobunyavirus

Abstract

AbstractOropouche virus (OROV) is an important cause of arboviral illness in Latin American countries, more specifically in the Amazon region of Brazil, Venezuela and Peru, as well as in other countries such as Panama. In the past decades, the clinical, epidemiological, pathological, and molecular aspects of OROV have been published and provide the basis for a better understanding of this important human pathogen. Here, we describe the milestones in a comprehensive review of OROV epidemiology, pathogenesis, and molecular biology, including a description of the first isolation of the virus, the outbreaks during the past six decades, clinical aspects of OROV infection, diagnostic methods, genome and genetic traits, evolution, and viral dispersal.

Figure 1.

Time line of advances in Oropouche virus research.

Figure 2.

Schematic representation of (A) genomic organization and (B) topology of glycoprotein of Oropouche virus strain BeAn 19991.

Figure 3.

Transmission cycles of Oropouche virus.

Figure 4.

Distribution of genotypes of Oropouche virus in Latin America based on 114 sequences of N gene.

Figure 5.

Phylogenetic tree based on the complete nucleotide sequence of the N gene of 114 Oropouche virus strains isolated from different hosts, locations, and periods. The main phylogenetic groups are represented by genotypes in color and subgenotypes in left bars. The values above the main nodes represent the dates of emergence of common ancestors, expressed in years before 2012. The arrows indicate the probable date of emergence of genotypes I, II, III, and IV. Numbers in parentheses are value for 95% highest probability density.

Figure 6.

Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis of subclade A: Simbu serogroup showing evidences of different tree topologies suggestive of genetic reassortment between Oropouche virus (OROV). In the above panel, the branches are highlighted according to the species recognized by the ICTV, ORO species in blue and Manzanila species in green, and taxon names in red indicates the reassortment events. The below panel illustrates the genetic pattern for the reassortment events involving Iquitos virus (IQTV), Madre de Dios virus (MDDV), and Perdões virus (PERDV).