Epidemiological aspects of the Oropouche virus (Orthobunyavirus) in South America: A systematic review.

Introduction: The Oropouche virus (OROV) is an arbovirus that belongs to the genus Orthobunyavirus and family Peribunyaviridae, responsible for causing Oropouche fever (OF) in humans. The clinical diagnosis of is doubtful due to the non-specificity of the symptoms, which can lead to a mistaken diagnosis of other arboviruses. Thus, the survey of epidemiological data on the occurrence of has been a major challenge for public health authorities, especially in of South America. Aim: To determine the general exposure rate of OROV in Brazil and other countries in South America by a systematic review. An article search was carried out in the Pubmed/Medline, Scopus, Cochrane, Lilacs, Electronic Scientific Online Library (SciELO) and Virtual Health Library (VHL) databases. Results:18 studies were selected as eligible to compose this review on epidemiological aspects of OROV. The studies were published from 1989 to 2020. Most studies were carried out in Brazil (12/18; 66.66%) and Peru (5/18; 27.77%), only one study collected samples from Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay. The test for the OROV was realized mainly by serological analysis. Of the 8005 samples analyzed, 1570 tested positive for the presence of OROV thus accounting a general exposure rate in South America of 19.61%. Brazil was responsible for more than half of the cases of OROV identified in South America (855/1570; 54.46%), however Peru has the highest rate of exposure to the virus (23.43% of frequency in Peru vs. 16.77% of frequency in Brazil). Conclusion: OROV stands out as an important public health problem in Amazonian countries in South America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]