From there on, the institute became the base for memorable sanitation campaigns in an age of outbreaks and epidemics of the bubonic plague, yellow fever, and smallpox.

When Oswaldo Cruz died in 1917, the institute, which by then already bore his name, was nationally consolidated and important scientific achievements followed, such as Carlos Chagas’ description of the complete cycle of the American trypanosomiasis including the clinical pattern of the disease.

[2] The foundation has a longstanding collaboration with GISAID, analyzing and curating COVID-19 virus data in the Americas, then quickly contributing those genetic sequences to the repository.

A study by the Oswaldo Cruz foundation in 2024 discovered high levels of cocaine in 13 Brazilian sharpnose sharks near Rio de Janeiro, with concentrations up to 100 times higher than previously recorded in other marine species.

Researchers called for further investigation into whether cocaine exposure affects shark behavior, noting that similar drug effects have been observed in animals and humans.