Cases of the Oropouche virus (OROV) emerging in Europe have health officials on high alert.

As of the end of July, 19 cases had been reported with 12 in Spain, five in Italy and two in Germany, per the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The disease is typically spread through bites from mosquitoes and midges (small flies, particularly the Culicoides paraensis species), according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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Since first emerging in Trinidad and Tobago in 1955, the Oropouche virus has had "limited circulation" in regions of South America, particularly in forested areas.

Three-toed sloths and birds have been identified as "natural reservoirs" for Oropouche, which means they act as hosts of the disease.

"The virus doesn't spread from person to person," Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, confirmed to Fox News Digital.

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On Aug. 1, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an epidemiological alert urging countries to "strengthen surveillance and implement laboratory diagnosis for the identification and characterization of cases … potentially associated with OROV infection."

By the end of July, there were 8,078 confirmed cases of Oropouche virus in five countries, including Bolivia (356), Brazil (7,284, with two deaths), Colombia (74), Cuba (74) and Peru (290), as reported by the PAHO.

"Experts fear that if the current outbreak of Oropouche fever expands further, it could overwhelm South America's already stretched health care system," according to an article published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases on Aug. 8.

The PAHO’s alert also warned of cases of the virus in Brazil that were transmitted from pregnant women to their fetuses in Brazil.

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"These cases are under investigation," the CDC stated on its website, noting that the agency is working with PAHO and "other international partners" to assess potential risks the virus presents during pregnancy.

Siegel said, "There is some risk to the fetus in terms of birth defects."

OROV, which is classified as an arbovirus, is often mistaken for other similar viruses, like Zika, dengue, chikungunya and malaria, according to the CDC.

Symptoms of the virus include fever, headache, muscle aches, stiff joints and chills.

Some may develop a rash that begins on the torso and spreads to other body parts.

Symptoms usually begin within four to eight days of being bitten, and last for three to six days.

"Symptoms can abate and reoccur," Siegel noted.

In severe cases, patients may develop meningitis, encephalitis or other "neuroinvasive" diseases, the CDC stated.

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For those patients, symptoms can include intense headaches, dizziness, confusion, nausea, vomiting, light sensitivity, lethargy, stiff neck and involuntary eye movements. 

"Around 4% of patients develop [neurologic symptoms] after the first febrile illness," Siegel said.

Most people who contract Oropouche will recover on their own without any long-term effects, the CDC stated.

"There are no vaccines for prevention and no treatments," Siegel said.

The best means of prevention is to avoid bites from midges and mosquitoes, according to experts.

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"People are advised to take preventive measures, including the use of repellents, clothing that covers legs and arms, and fine mesh mosquito nets, and to take extra precautions during outbreaks, particularly for vulnerable groups such as pregnant women," the PAHO advised in its alert.

Supportive care can include rest, fluids and medications to reduce fever and alleviate pain.

"Patients who develop more severe symptoms should be hospitalized for close observation and supportive treatment," the agency stated.

There have been "very few" deaths reported from Oropouche, the CDC noted.

Those who are experiencing symptoms and have risk factors can contact their local health department for testing.

Fox News Digital reached out to the CDC for comment.

Former President Trump's false claims that Vice President Harris used Artificial Intelligence to generate a crowd at a recent rally is proof that he's "completely lost it," anti-Trump attorney George Conway said on Monday.

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe," co-host Jonathan Lemire asked Conway to react to Trump's Truth Social post over the weekend where he accused his 2024 opponent of using AI to generate a fake crowd at a rally last Wednesday at an airport hangar near Detroit Metro Airport.

"Donald Trump is so rattled about crowd sizes, he’s taking up conspiracy theories from the fever swamps of the right, elevating it, maybe even believing it," Lemire posed to Conway. "It just wreaks of desperation."

Conway, an outspoken Trump critic, called the former president a "deeply psychologically disturbed" individual who shared "narcissist" and "sociopath" traits like dictators throughout history.

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"As I’ve been yammering about for five or six years now, he’s a deeply unwell man. He is a deeply psychologically disturbed individual. If he were a member of your family, you’d be taking him, you’d be staging an intervention and taking him into a psychiatric hospital," Conway argued.

"He is, as I’ve been saying, a narcissistic sociopath, a pathological narcissist and a sociopath as defined by the American Psychiatric Association. These are, historians will tell you, the traits of authoritarian dictators throughout history. And what we’re seeing now is, as you put it, an implosion. This, I believe, is what ultimately was always going to happen. The final implosion of Donald Trump," he continued.

Conway compared Trump's "delusional" post about crowd sizes to Adolf Hitler's behavior during the final days of World War II while hiding in his bunker.

"I mean, it’s like Hitler when Hitler was moving around divisions that didn’t exist in the last 10 days of the war in the Führerbunker. He has completely lost it. This post is beyond question, delusional," the attorney claimed.

On Sunday, Trump posted to Truth Social: "Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was nobody at the plane, and she ‘A.I.’d’ it, and showed a massive ‘crowd’ of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST!" He also posted a zoomed-in photo purporting to show the plane's reflection without any people in it as evidence of this theory.

Fox2Detroit reported an estimated 15,000 people showed up to the rally, which was also livestreamed and photographed by news outlets. AI experts told CNN they could find "no evidence" photos posted by the Harris campaign were digitally altered. 

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Conway claimed that the former president was running scared because if he didn't win the election he would be "going to jail" because of his legal cases.

"He realizes he’s under more pressure than ever because he’s not just running for the presidency, he is running for his freedom. He’s going to go to jail if he does not win the presidency, and he can see that now. And that’s why he’s doubling down on the unreality," he continued.

A majority of Trump's legal cases are currently in limbo after he secured a victory from the Supreme Court in his presidential immunity case last month. 

The Harris campaign dismissed Trump's claim in a post on X.

"1. This is an actual photo of a 15,000-person crowd for Harris-Walz in Michigan 2) Trump has still not campaigned in a swing state in over a week... Low energy?" the Kamala HQ X account posted in response to Trump's Truth Social post.

Fox News Digital contacted the Trump campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.