What is sloth fever?

Sloth fever, or the Oropouche virus, was not seen outside the Amazon up until recently. Prior to 2023, only a few hundred cases were recorded annually. But now the virus has been spreading across the western hemisphere, and infections are likely only going to increase.

What is sloth fever?

Sloth fever is mostly spread by a small insect called the biting midge, which lives in rural areas all over the world. "Sometimes this midge bites you, and you don't realize," William de Souza, a virologist at the Kentucky College of Medicine, said to National Geographic . "You don't see because it's so fast." Midges can transmit the virus to several animals, including sloths and humans. The virus is vector-borne and does not spread directly from person to person. Instead, "when a midge bites a