Recent Outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever in East Africa and the Middle East
Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an important neglected, emerging, mosquito-borne disease with severe negative impact on human and animal health. Mosquitoes in the Aedes genus have been considered as the reservoir, as well as vectors, since their transovarially infected eggs with stand desiccation and lar...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2014-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpubh.2014.00169/full |
| _version_ | 1818143045849186304 |
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| author | Yousif El Safi Himeidan Yousif El Safi Himeidan Eliningaya eKweka Eliningaya eKweka Mostafa M. Mahgoub El Amin eEl Rayah Johnson O. Ouma Johnson O. Ouma |
| author_facet | Yousif El Safi Himeidan Yousif El Safi Himeidan Eliningaya eKweka Eliningaya eKweka Mostafa M. Mahgoub El Amin eEl Rayah Johnson O. Ouma Johnson O. Ouma |
| author_sort | Yousif El Safi Himeidan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an important neglected, emerging, mosquito-borne disease with severe negative impact on human and animal health. Mosquitoes in the Aedes genus have been considered as the reservoir, as well as vectors, since their transovarially infected eggs with stand desiccation and larvae hatch when in contact with water. However, different mosquito species serve as epizootic/epidemic vectors of RVF, creating a complex epidemiologic pattern in East Africa. The recent RVFV outbreaks in Somalia (2006–2007), Kenya (2006–2007), Tanzania (2007), and Sudan (2007–2008) showed extension to districts which were not involved before. These outbreaks also demonstrated the changing epidemiology of the disease from being originally associated with livestock, to a seemingly highly virulent form infecting humans and causing considerably high fatality rates. The amount of rainfall is considered to be the main factor initiating RVF outbreaks. The interaction between rainfall and local environment i.e. type of soil, livestock, and human determine the space-time clustering of RVF outbreaks. Contact with animals or their products was the most dominant risk factor to transfer the infection to humans. Uncontrolled movement of livestock during an outbreak is responsible for introducing RVF to new areas. For example, the virus that caused the Saudi Arabia outbreak in 2000 was found to be the same strain that caused the 1997–98 outbreaks in East Africa. A strategy that involves active surveillance with effective case management and diagnosis for humans and identifying target areas for animal vaccination, restriction on animal movements outside the affected areas, identifying breeding sites and targeted intensive mosquito control programs has been shown to succeed in limiting the effect of RVF outbreak and curb the spread of the disease from the onset. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T11:25:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a82e148f3fad4afabb5b8cb103201726 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T11:25:26Z |
| publishDate | 2014-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-a82e148f3fad4afabb5b8cb1032017262022-12-22T01:09:01ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652014-10-01210.3389/fpubh.2014.00169111657Recent Outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever in East Africa and the Middle EastYousif El Safi Himeidan0Yousif El Safi Himeidan1Eliningaya eKweka2Eliningaya eKweka3Mostafa M. Mahgoub4El Amin eEl Rayah5Johnson O. Ouma6Johnson O. Ouma7Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Kassala, P.O. Box 71, New Halfa, Sudan. Vector Health InternationalTropical Pesticides Research InstituteCatholic University of Health and Allied SciencesUniversity of Gezira.University of KhartoumKenya Agricultural Research InstituteVector Health InternationalRift Valley fever (RVF) is an important neglected, emerging, mosquito-borne disease with severe negative impact on human and animal health. Mosquitoes in the Aedes genus have been considered as the reservoir, as well as vectors, since their transovarially infected eggs with stand desiccation and larvae hatch when in contact with water. However, different mosquito species serve as epizootic/epidemic vectors of RVF, creating a complex epidemiologic pattern in East Africa. The recent RVFV outbreaks in Somalia (2006–2007), Kenya (2006–2007), Tanzania (2007), and Sudan (2007–2008) showed extension to districts which were not involved before. These outbreaks also demonstrated the changing epidemiology of the disease from being originally associated with livestock, to a seemingly highly virulent form infecting humans and causing considerably high fatality rates. The amount of rainfall is considered to be the main factor initiating RVF outbreaks. The interaction between rainfall and local environment i.e. type of soil, livestock, and human determine the space-time clustering of RVF outbreaks. Contact with animals or their products was the most dominant risk factor to transfer the infection to humans. Uncontrolled movement of livestock during an outbreak is responsible for introducing RVF to new areas. For example, the virus that caused the Saudi Arabia outbreak in 2000 was found to be the same strain that caused the 1997–98 outbreaks in East Africa. A strategy that involves active surveillance with effective case management and diagnosis for humans and identifying target areas for animal vaccination, restriction on animal movements outside the affected areas, identifying breeding sites and targeted intensive mosquito control programs has been shown to succeed in limiting the effect of RVF outbreak and curb the spread of the disease from the onset.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpubh.2014.00169/fullZoonosesrainfallRVFV outbreaksAedes mosquitoesEast Africa. |
| spellingShingle | Yousif El Safi Himeidan Yousif El Safi Himeidan Eliningaya eKweka Eliningaya eKweka Mostafa M. Mahgoub El Amin eEl Rayah Johnson O. Ouma Johnson O. Ouma Recent Outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever in East Africa and the Middle East Frontiers in Public Health Zoonoses rainfall RVFV outbreaks Aedes mosquitoes East Africa. |
| title | Recent Outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever in East Africa and the Middle East |
| title_full | Recent Outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever in East Africa and the Middle East |
| title_fullStr | Recent Outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever in East Africa and the Middle East |
| title_full_unstemmed | Recent Outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever in East Africa and the Middle East |
| title_short | Recent Outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever in East Africa and the Middle East |
| title_sort | recent outbreaks of rift valley fever in east africa and the middle east |
| topic | Zoonoses rainfall RVFV outbreaks Aedes mosquitoes East Africa. |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpubh.2014.00169/full |
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