<p><b>First outbreak of Oropouche
Fever reported in a non-endemic central-western region of the Peruvian Amazon. </b><b>Molecular diagnosis
and clinical characteristics. </b></p><p><b>Introduction: </b>Oropouche
virus (OROV) is an underreported and emerging infectious disease. Its incidence
is underestimated mainly due to clinical similarities with other diseases that
are also caused by arboviruses present in endemic areas. We report the first
outbreak of OROV in the western region of the Peruvian Amazon in the department
of Huanuco, Peru. </p><p><b>Methods</b>:
This outbreak occurred in the region of Huanuco, Peru during July of 2016.
Blood samples were taken from 268 patients who presented acute febrile syndrome
to be later analyzed for Oropouche Virus via Polymerase Chain Reaction.</p><p><b>Results</b>:
Of all 268 patients, 46 (17%) cases tested were positive for OROV. the most
common symptom reported was headaches with a frequency of 87% (n=40) followed
by myalgias with 76% (n=35), arthralgias with 65.2% (n=30), retro-ocular pain
60.8% (n=28) and hyporexia with 50% (n=23). </p><p>
Concerning
signs and symptoms that may suggest severe OROV infection, 4.3% (n=2) had low
platelet count, 8.6% (n=4) had intense abdominal pain, and only 2.1% (n=1) had
a presentation with thoracic pain<br></p