Outbreak of Oropouche Virus in French Guiana
Mélanie Gaillet, Clara Pichard, Johana Restrepo, Anne Lavergne, Lucas Perez, Antoine Enfissi, Philippe Abboud, Yann Lambert, Laurence Ma, Marc Monot, Magalie Demar, Félix Djossou, V. Servas, Mathieu Nacher, Audrey Andrieu, Julie Prudhomme, Céline Michaud, Cyril Rousseau, Isabelle Jeanne, Jean‐Bernard Duchemin, Loïc Epelboin, Dominique Rousset
Abstract
F rench Guiana is an overseas territory of France in northern South America; 95% of the country is covered by Amazon rainforest. The remote village of Sal, deep in the rainforest, had 152 permanent inhabitants in 2017 (INSEE, https://www.insee.fr/fr/ statistiques/4271842), but the actual population in 2020 was 95. The nurse of the health center keeps an updated count of inhabitants in the village, a number that was stable because of isolation during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In August and September 2020, French Guiana was experiencing simultaneous COVID-19 and dengue outbreaks. Several inhabitants of Sal were treated for dengue-like symptoms, including fever and diffuse muscle pain, but rapid diagnostic testing for dengue was negative.