The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday reported 21 cases of Oropouche virus disease, also known as sloth fever, in travelers returning from Cuba.

Twenty cases have been reported in Florida and one in New York.

The disease is spread primarily through bites from midges and from some mosquitoes. Symptoms of the disease include headache, fever and muscle aches and joint pains, but the virus is rarely fatal. 

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There is no indication that the virus is spreading in the U.S. but health officials are warning doctors to be on the lookout for infection in travelers coming from Cuba and South America.

Most patients returning from Cuba reported their symptoms between May and July.

Overall, three patients were hospitalized, and no deaths were reported, the CDC said in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

A dire economic crisis in Cuba has made it difficult to control the spread of Oropouche. Frequent power outages mean many sleep with windows open during the hot Caribbean summer. Few Cubans have access to insect repellents, and fumigation efforts have been stymied by fuel shortages.

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The health body on Tuesday reported 21 cases of Oropouche virus disease, also known as sloth fever, in travelers returning from Cuba. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Earlier this month, the CDC issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory about an increase in Oropouche virus disease in the Americas region. 

The virus is endemic to the Amazon basin and more than 8,000 cases have been reported in Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Columbia, and Cuba so far this year, including two deaths, and five cases of vertical transmission, where viruses can pass between mother and fetus.

The CDC has recommended that pregnant women avoid non-essential travel to Cuba and suggested all travelers take steps to prevent bug bites, such as using insect repellents and wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants. Currently, there are no vaccines available for the disease and treatment for symptoms can include rest, fluids and use of analgesics and antipyretics.

People can become infected when visiting these forested areas and getting bitten. They can then introduce the virus to urban areas, where biting midges and certain mosquitoes spread the virus from person to person.

A baby three-toed sloth holds a teddy bear at a wildlife center in Alajuela, Costa Rica.  (AP Photo/Kent Gilbert)

Approximately 60% of people infected with Oropouche virus become symptomatic, according to the CDC. The incubation period is typically three to 10 days.

It has sometimes been called sloth fever because scientists first investigating the virus found it in a three-toed sloth, and believed sloths were important in its spread between insects and animals. 

The virus was first detected in 1955 in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

A Tennessee woman won a $3.45 million lawsuit after she was left with a “completely unnecessary” and “permanent” disfigurement from surgery.

Kellianne Goodnight said doctors at the Chattanooga Skin and Cancer Clinic on Shallowford Road in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2017 removed several layers of her skin just above the bridge of her nose while performing a Mohr’s surgery. The doctors allegedly told her the layers were filled with cancer cells, but they were not.

In the Mohr’s surgery, the doctors would remove a layer of tissue at the crease of Goodnight’s nose and face and examine it microscopically to figure out if there were cancer cells, according to the lawsuit, WZTV reported.

If cancer cells are found, the doctors would remove another layer of tissue and examine it, and repeat this process until they found a layer that did not have cancer cells.

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Doctor Mark G. Tusa and nurse practitioner Sharon Ann Brown told Goodnight that they had to remove a total of seven layers of tissue. But a third-party examination of the tissues found that none of the layers removed had any sign of skin cancer, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also said Tusa “never told the Plaintiff she had an additional or changed diagnosis.”

Later, after a followup procedure that lasted roughly eight hours, Goodnight specifically asked for amplifying information. She was informed that the cancer had spread, was the size of a baseball and was located under her nose and mouth.

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Based on opinions that the pathologist provided, Tusa made a misinterpretation that the layers contained basal cell carcinoma, when they did not.

“Dr. Tusa created a huge, deep, irreparable and completely unnecessary crater on Kelliane Goodnight’s face,” the lawsuit said.

The procedure left Goodnight with “permanent disfigurement of her face as well as structural damage to the muscles which underlie her face,” according to the lawsuit.

“The unnecessary wound created by Dr. Tusa has required several surgeries, and it is anticipated that she will require several more surgeries in the future to attempt to correct this medical error,” it continues.

The procedure left Goodnight with “permanent disfigurement of her face as well as structural damage to the muscles which underlie her face,” the lawsuit said. (iStock)

For months after the surgery, Goodnight “could not go out in public without a mask because of the embarrassment and humiliation of having a devastating and horrendous wound created on her face.”

The lawsuit also said Goodnight lost her job at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee due to the procedure.

Last week, Hamilton County Circuit Court Judge Michael Sharp ruled in favor of Goodnight and awarded her nearly $3.45 million, including $800,000 for past pain and suffering, $500,000 for future pain and suffering, $1,500,000 for permanent impairment and disfigurement, $100,000 for the past loss of the ability to enjoy life, $400,000 for the future ability to enjoy life and nearly $150,000 for past medical care and services.

Getting shingles just once could increase the risk of long-term confusion and memory loss, a new study has found.

The study, led by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, linked the virus to greater chances of “subjective cognitive decline,” according to a Harvard press release.

The findings were published in the journal Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy on Aug. 14.

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“Subjective cognitive decline” captures early changes in cognition that are noticed before evidence of cognitive impairment shows up on standard neuropsychological tests, explained study author Sharon Curhan, M.D., a physician and epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

It was also associated with a higher risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. 

“Shingles may contribute to dementia risk through neuroinflammation, damage to cerebral blood vessels (cerebral vasculopathy), or direct neuronal damage,” Curhan told Fox News Digital.

In this particular study, the researchers analyzed data from three large cohorts of more than 150,000 women and men over a 13-year period. 

The data came from the Nurses’ Health Study, the Nurses’ Health Study II and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, according to Curhan.

“We were surprised by the large magnitude and long duration of the increased risk.”

“There was a suggestion that the magnitude of the elevated risk may be greater among those who were not vaccinated with the shingles vaccine,” she said.

The researchers determined that shingles was associated with a greater than 20% higher long-term risk of subjective cognitive decline.

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“We were surprised by the large magnitude and long duration of the increased risk, and [the fact] that it may be different in women and men,” Curhan told Fox News Digital. 

The elevated risk was even higher among those who were genetic carriers of APOE e4 — the gene that increases the risk for Alzheimer’s disease — than men who were not APOE e4 carriers, she noted, but this was not the case in women. 

Known medically as herpes zoster, shingles is a painful, blistering rash caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which is the same virus that causes chickenpox. (iStock)

Although he noted that this is an observational study and does not prove cause and effect, Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News, said he believes “the observation is real.”

“Shingles is a reactivation of a virus that has been hiding inside nerves,” he told Fox News Digital. “It causes inflammation — and when inflammation involves the brain, it is associated with cognitive decline, which can lead to Alzheimer’s.”

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Previous studies have also looked at the association of herpes zoster and other viruses with Alzheimer’s and the other diseases that cause dementia, according to Heather M. Snyder, PhD, senior vice president of medical and scientific operations at the Alzheimer’s Association in Chicago.

“It is unclear if the virus is present in individuals because of changes associated with the diseases that cause cognitive decline, changes of the immune system, or some sort of cause and effect,” Snyder, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.

“When inflammation involves the brain, it is associated with cognitive decline.”

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Previous research has also shown that a history of shingles is also associated with higher long-term risk of a major cardiovascular event, such as a stroke or heart attack, which could last for many years after infection, Curhan warned. 

What to know about shingles

Shingles — medically known as herpes zoster — is a painful, blistering rash caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which is the same virus that causes chickenpox, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The rash and blisters usually scab over within seven to 10 days.

The infection is common, affecting about one in every three people in the U.S. in their lifetime.

In addition to the rash, which typically appears as a stripe around one side of the body or face, symptoms can include fever, chills, headache and upset stomach. (iStock)

“A majority of adults have herpes zoster hidden in their brain cells, from prior infection at some previous point in their life,” said Snyder.

In addition to the rash — which typically appears as a stripe around one side of the body or face — symptoms can include fever, chills, headache and upset stomach, according to the CDC.

In some cases (10% to 18%), the virus can lead to complications like long-term nerve pain.

One in every three people in the U.S. will have shingles in their lifetime.

Other rare but serious adverse effects can include vision loss, bacterial infections, pneumonia, brain inflammation (encephalitis), impaired hearing and death, per the CDC.

These complications are most likely to affect those with compromised immune systems.

Antiviral treatments and pain relief medications are available for those with the condition.

Means of prevention

These findings show the “long-term implications” of shingles and highlight the importance of public health efforts to prevent the infection, Curhan noted. 

The vaccination has been shown to be 90% effective at preventing the infection and long-term nerve pain in adults age 50 and over who have healthy immune systems, according to the CDC.

Shingles vaccination has been shown to be 90% effective at preventing the infection and long-term nerve pain in adults age 50 and over who have healthy immune systems, according to the CDC. (iStock)

“Given the growing number of Americans at risk for this painful and often disabling disease and the availability of an effective vaccine, shingles vaccination could provide a valuable opportunity to reduce the burden of subsequent health issues due to shingles, such as chronic pain (postherpetic neuralgia), cardiovascular complications, or cognitive decline and dementia,” said Curhan.

The CDC recommends routine shingles vaccination for people age 50 and older, regardless of whether they have had a prior episode of shingles or have had a previous vaccine. 

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“Anyone who may be eligible for the vaccine or who may have questions or concerns about vaccination should consult with a health care provider,” said Curhan.

Siegel echoed the merits of vaccination. 

“This study adds to the growing group of evidence that the shingles vaccine (Shingrix) is important for all those over 50 (who have had chicken pox or the varicella vaccine) to decrease the risk of reactivation of the shingles virus and/or complications of active infection,” he said.

Potential limitations 

This was an observational study that primarily focused on a White, highly educated population, Curhan noted — which means future studies in other populations could strengthen the research.

“Also, we did not have information on vaccination status in the full study population, so we could only examine this relation among a subset,” she added. 

“A majority of adults have herpes zoster hidden in their brain cells, from prior infection at some previous point in their life,” a doctor said. (iStock)

Much of the study period took place before the shingles vaccine became widely available, Curhan said — and even once it was introduced, the uptake was generally low. 

The more recent vaccine was not available until after the study. 

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“As uptake of the newer shingles vaccine increases, additional studies that evaluate whether vaccination status influences the relation of shingles and risk of cognitive decline would be informative,” Curhan said. 

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“Therefore, we are currently collecting this information among our participants and hope to conduct these studies in the future.”