Investigating Oropouche as a Possible Etiology for Febrile Illness in a Clinical Cohort from Colombia, 2014-2015

Oropouche virus (OROV) is spreading in Latin America and the Caribbean, with travel-associated cases reported in Europe and the United States. There have been more than 8,000 cases in Brazil, including two deaths and an association with late-term stillbirth. Oropouche virus was first detected in Colombia in 2017; however, we aimed to determine if OROV was circulating in Colombia earlier than previously established. We screened 631 serum samples from a hospital cohort collected in 2014-2015 from Cúcuta, Los Patios, and Ocaña. We found evidence of acute OROV infection in three patients from Ocaña. These data suggest that OROV circulated in Colombia earlier than previously detected. With the emergence and expansion of new or neglected viruses, there is a need to expand screening of febrile patients both retroactively and prospectively to describe and better understand the distribution of arbovirus circulation in human populations.