The emergence of the Oropouche virus (OROV) in the Americas, with multiple cases imported to different European countries, has raised concerns about the potential human-to-human transmission, particularly vertical transmission, and its potentially devastating impact on fetal health.
A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) documented replication-competent OROV RNA in the semen of a 40+-year-old Italian traveller who visited Cuba in July 2024. Initially presenting with a febrile illness, he tested negative for Dengue virus (DENV), Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and Zika virus (ZIKV). Still, on day 4, Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) confirmed OROV in serum, whole blood and urine. While the patient recovered by day 10, OROV RNA persisted in blood and urine for 32 days and in semen for 58 days. These…