Rift Valley Fever in Mauritania and Niger
Mauritania
One Rift Valley Fever (RVF) case was confirmed in a 20-year-old male herder, living in a nomadic camp located 6 km from the Amedrame village and 80 km northwest of Tidjikja commune, Tagant region.
He presented at the Tidjikja Regional Hospital with fever, vomiting, epistaxis which started a week before hospital admission on 20 October 2024.
Samples collected by the mobile Virology laboratory team of the National Public health Research Institute and tested on 21 October 2024 by RT-PCR returned positive for RVF. A second test conducted on 25 October returned negative for RVF. The patient was discharged on 28 October 2024.
Active case search is ongoing.
Niger
A confirmed Rift Valley fever case was reported in a 25-year-old male farmer who was admitted on 14 October 2024 at the N’wagar health center of Tchintabaraden health district in southwest Niger with fever, jaundice, epistaxis and hematemesis.
Blood samples collected and tested by RT-PCR on 14 October 2024 at the Center for Medical Research and Health (CERMES) of Niamey returned positive for Rift Valley fever.
Several deaths and abortions have also been reported in the same farmer’s livestock (especially among goats and camelids). Investigations are ongoing.
Rift Valley Fever
Rift Valley Fever is mosquito-borne virus that is endemic in parts of Africa. It primarily infects animals like sheep, cattle and goats and it can have an economic impact on a community due to the loss of livestock.
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Humans get infected through contact with infected animal blood or organs. Butchering and slaughtering of animals is a primary cause of transmission to humans. Certain occupations are at a higher risk of getting Rift Valley Fever like farmers, herders and veterinarians.
It can also be transmitted to humans through mosquito bites and the bites of blood-sucking flies.
Most cases of Rift Valley Fever are mild and symptoms include fever, headaches and muscle pain. However, a small percentage of people can get serious disease which includes retinitis, encephalitis and a hemorrhagic fever. Fatalities happen in less than 1 percent of those infected.