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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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.

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. 

The plot of "Baywatch" "really wasn't that good," according to the show's biggest stars years later.

"Baywatch" starred David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, Jeremy Jackson, Alexandra Paul, Carmen Electra, Yasmine Bleeth, David Charvet, Nicole Eggert and more. The show ran from 1989 through 2001 and at its peak drew 1.2 billion viewers per week. Eggert, who portrayed Summer Quinn, teamed up with her former cast to reflect on the TV series in the docuseries "Baywatch: Moment in the Sun."

Nearly 35 years later, the cast can admit the plot lines were a little absurd.

"The show really wasn’t good," Hasselhoff admitted in the docuseries, via People magazine. "But we made it good because we had passion."

‘BAYWATCH’ STAR NICOLE EGGERT IN ‘GRAY AREA’ AFTER FINISHING CANCER TREATMENT: ‘THERE’S A LOT OF WAITING'

Kelly Slater, who portrayed young surfer Jimmy Slade, recalled filming an episode where an octopus stole their surfboard and held them hostage. 

"I felt like the writing was so nonsensical in so many ways," he said.

However, the "nonsensical" writing seemingly helped the show.

"We were the butt of jokes on ‘The Tonight Show With Jay Leno’ all the time, and every time he said a joke, our ratings went up," co-creator Douglas Schwartz explained.

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Despite the success of the show, the "Baywatch" actors weren't paid much. Each star earned $3,500 per episode, according to Eggert.

"'Friends' at that point I think they were each making $1 million an episode," she said during the docuseries.

Adds Erika Eleniak, "I actually remember freaking out seeing my first paycheck after the taxes were taken out. How am I honestly going to live on this money?"

"There's not one rich actor on ‘Baywatch.’ Not one," said Billy Warlock, who starred as Eddie Kramer for two seasons of the show.

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Eggert, who spearheaded the "Baywatch" docuseries project, gave fans an update on her cancer journey at Monday's premiere.

"I am good," Eggert told People magazine on the red carpet. "I am in sort of a gray area and I finished my treatment, waiting for more imaging and hopefully maybe surgery."

"And there's a lot of waiting in this and it's sort of something I didn't really realize and nobody really talks about," she explained. "But the gray area is the hardest because you don't know what's happening, and you're just, when I'm doing treatment, I felt like I was doing something productive."

Eggert was diagnosed with stage 2 cribriform carcinoma breast cancer in 2023.