WESTERN EQUINE ENCEPHALITIS – AMERICAS (15): URUGUAY, HUMAN
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Date: Mon 12 Feb 2024 13:43 UYT
Source: El Pais [in Spanish, trans. Mod.TY, edited]
https://www.elpais.com.uy/informacion/salud/se-detecto-otro-caso-de-encefalitis-equina-en-un-hombre-de-colonia-wilson-en-el-departamento-de-san-jose
There are at least 3 positive [human] cases of western equine
encephalitis (WEE), a virus transmitted by mosquitoes to humans, in
Uruguay. Last Wednesday [7 Feb 2024] there was new information from
the MSP [Ministry of Public Health].
A new confirmed case of WEE was detected in the department of San
José, according to El País. This case is a 47-year-old man from the
town of Colonia Wilson, where the first case was also detected at the
end of January [2024].
The man consulted a physician in December [2023] because he had
similar symptoms, and stated that he had a horse on his property that
had tested positive for WEE. At that time, they performed a PCR test
on his blood to look for the virus, for which he tested negative.
Later, a serological test of that sample was performed by MAC ELISA,
an indirect technique, which does not look for the virus but for early
antibodies (immunoglobulin M [IgM]) in the patient. This diagnosis can
be made both with cerebrospinal fluid (which involves a lumbar
puncture) and with blood.
The 47-year-old man was determined to have positive antibodies to WEE
5 days ago. This patient, unlike the first one, did not require
hospitalization nor did a lumbar puncture need to be performed. He
suffered the course of the virus infection with “fever, headache,
vomiting and diarrhea,” the sources said.
The first case of WEE was a 42-year-old man, from Colonia Wilson (San
José), who had been tested on 5 Jan [2024] by the MSP and whose
result was also negative at first. The patient was admitted to the ICU
due to the disease and was later discharged. At the end of January
[2024], his case was confirmed after testing with another technique,
not PCR, called MAC ELISA.
The third case is a patient from Montevideo, who according to the EEO
report, as of 6 Feb [2024], was under follow-up.
The next weekly MSP report on the disease will be published this
Wednesday [14 Feb 2024] after the Carnival holiday, medical sources
added.