Rift Valley Fever Outbreak in Sudan Abates - WHO

[Gert van der Hoek]

Rift Valley Fever kills 60 people in Sudan - WHO

Fri 2 Nov 2007, 15:18

GENEVA (Reuters) - An outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in Sudan has struck at least 125 people, killing 60 of them, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.

The United Nations health agency said two weeks ago that it was investigating a deadly outbreak in Sudan suspected to be yellow fever, but laboratory tests have shown it was Rift Valley Fever, WHO spokesman John Rainford said.

"There are 125 human cases and 60 deaths," he told Reuters.

More investigation was needed into the outbreak, which had erupted in White Nile, Sennar and Jazeera provinces in central and eastern Sudan, including the exact timing of the first cases, Rainford said. "Right now we don't have a clear picture."

Rift Valley Fever virus, transmitted by contact with the blood or organs of infected animals, can also be carried by mosquitoes, according to the WHO. Herders, farmers, veterinarians and slaughterhouse workers are deemed at higher risk of infection from the disease, which can devastate livestock.

While most human cases are relatively mild, a small percentage of patients develop a much more severe haemorrhagic form which can cause them to vomit blood or pass it in their faeces. Bleeding from the nose or gums can also occur.

The nearly 50 percent fatality rate was "very high" compared to the usual expectations for Rift Valley Fever, but it was likely that many more mild cases have not been detected in Sudan, according to Rainford.

"The Sudanese government has been highly cooperative and transparent in sharing information," Rainford said.

WHO officials were in the area of the outbreak and the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit NAMRU-3 laboratory in Cairo had helped with the laboratory analysis, he added.

http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN255064.html

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 60 people in Sudan - WHO

Rift Valley Fever in Sudan

5 November 2007

On 18 October 2007, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), Sudan, requested WHO support to investigate and control a suspected haemorrhagic fever outbreak in White Nile and Sinnar States.

WHO has mobilized technical and logistics support for a joint Federal Ministry of Health and Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries field investigation.

The field team included staff from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and field diagnostics capacity from the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No.3 (NAMRU-3), a WHO Collaborating Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases based in Cairo, Egypt.

The joint field team arrived in Kosti, White Nile State on 24 October, and investigated reports of human and animal illness in the surrounding area. The team implemented outbreak response activities, including intensified surveillance and case management, social mobilization and outbreak communications.

The investigation team reported its findings and recommendations to the FMoH in Khartoum on 28 October, at which point, the FMoH requested additional WHO support for controlling an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF).

As of 2 November, 125 cases including 60 deaths have been reported from more than 10 localities of White Nile, Sinnar, and Gezira states.

Young adult males are predominantly affected. More than 25 human samples have been found positive for RVF by PCR or ELISA.

Samples from animals have been sent to the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, Khartoum for analysis, but results are not yet available. Efforts are ongoing to intensify surveillance, case management, health education and vector control in the affected areas.

WHO is working with the FMoH on an outbreak response plan of action and to identify the priority technical and operational support needed.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_11_05/en/

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 60 people in Sudan - WHO

OIE concerned about the situation caused by Rift Valley Fever in Africa

Updated : 05-Nov-2007

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) monitors the situation caused by Rift Valley Fever outbreaks which occurred over the last few weeks in Africa , particularly in Sudan .

The OIE recalls the importance of the use of vaccination of susceptible animals as a control measure. This recommendation of the OIE has been recently re-endorsed by OIE national Delegates of Africa and Middle East during the workshop on RVF held in Cairo ( Egypt ), on 13- 15 June 2007 .

Animal vaccination and, when possible, vector control need to be applied well in advance of expected risk periods for vector activity and occurrence of the disease.

Outbreaks of RVF have a significant impact on the trade of ruminants especially from the Horn of Africa to the Middle East with a consequent significant loss of income for livestock owners in the affected areas and countries.

By recommending the correct implementation of standards and guidelines, the OIE stands for safe trade and sets against unjustified sanitary barriers.

Should countries at risk make the request, the OIE would be in favour of a quick vaccination campaign of animals to be carried out in relevant areas with the support of the international community.

http://www.oie.int/eng/press/en_071105.htm

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 60 people in Sudan - WHO

Rift Valley Fever in Sudan - update

7 November 2007

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_11_07/en/

Human cases of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) continue to increase, with 228 cases and 84 deaths reported as of 7 November. Fifteen localities in White Nile, Sinnar, and Gazeera, States are affected. More than 25 human samples have proved positive for Rift Valley fever by PCR or ELISA testing. Laboratory results from three cases in Khartoum state have been found negative for RVF. Results of tests on animal samples remain unavailable.

The appearance of RVF disease in humans is typically preceded by infection in animals. The RVF virus circulates between ruminant animals (cattle, sheep, goats, and camels) via mosquitoes. During an outbreak, the most significant risk factor for human infection is close contact with infected domestic animals, particularly with their body fluids either directly or via aerosols. However, at times of high vector densities the relative importance of mosquito-to-human transmission may increase.

With no specific treatment and no effective human vaccine, intensive social mobilization to raise awareness of the risk factors of RVF infection and the protective measures individuals can take to prevent exposure, is the only way to reduce human infection and deaths.

During RVF outbreaks, intensive public health messages for risk reduction should focus on:

* reducing the risk of animal-to-human transmission as a result of unsafe animal husbandry and slaughtering practices. Gloves and other appropriate protective clothing should be worn and care taken when handling sick animals or their tissues or when slaughtering animals.
* reducing the risk of animal-to-human transmission arising from the unsafe consumption of fresh blood, raw milk or animal tissue. In the epizootic regions, all animal products (blood, meat and milk) should be thoroughly cooked before eating.
* the importance of personal and community protection against mosquito bites through the use of impregnated mosquito nets, personal insect repellent if available, by wearing light coloured clothing (long-sleeved shirts and trousers) and by avoiding outdoor activity at peak biting times of the vector species.

WHO continues to work closely with the Sudan Ministry of Health, as well as other UN and international bodies to support an effective control program for protecting human populations.

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 60 people in Sudan - WHO

OIE-report 11/11/2007:

snip

Immediate notification

Zilait, WHITE NILE

Date of start of outbreak 08/10/2007

Outbreak status Continuing (or date resolved not submitted)

Epidemiological unit Village

Affected animals Species Susceptible Cases Deaths Destroyed Slaughtered

Sheep 400 0 0

Cattle 110 0 0

Affected population animals belong to different herds.

http://www.oie.int/wahid-prod/public.php?page=single_report&pop=1&reportid=6461

If you follow the link, a map is attached.

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 60 people in Sudan - WHO

Outbreak of Rift Valley Fever Leads UN Agency to Send Animal Expert


UN News Service (New York)


NEWS
13 November 2007
07


The United Nations agricultural agency has sent a senior animal health expert to Sudan to advise the country's Government on prevention and control measures to deal with a deadly outbreak of the viral haemorrhagic disease known as Rift Valley Fever (RVF).

At least 84 deaths in Sudan have been attributed to RVF and the number of infected people is also on the rise, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), which has tracked the outbreak to three states on the eastern side of the African country: White Nile, Sinnar and Gezira.


The animal health expert being dispatched by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization will work with the Sudanese Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries, FAO said in a press release issued today from its headquarters in Rome.

Transmitted by mosquitoes, RVF is a dangerous disease that affects both livestock - including sheep, goats, cattle and camels - and humans, but is usually well-established in animal populations by the time the first human cases are observed.

Humans become infected through mosquito bites or direct contact with infected material and liquids such as animal blood during slaughtering, while the uncooked milk of infected animals can also pose a risk. No cases of human-to-human transmission have ever been reported.

While some infected people experience no detectable symptoms, others develop flu-like fever, muscle pain, headaches, joint pain, vomiting, loss of appetite and sensitivity to light. In more severe cases patients can also experience lesions in their eyes, neurological problems, liver impairment and haemorrhagic fever symptoms including widespread bleeding.

Joseph Domenech, FAO's Chief Veterinary Officer, said the source of RVF within the local animal population needs to be identified and control measures introduced to reduce the public health risk, avoid further spread of the disease and limit the impact on the livelihood of local farmers.

The focus on locating infected animals and herds will be to try to disrupt the transmission cycle of the RVF virus by controlling the movement of livestock, using insecticide to treat animals and the environment and taking precautionary measures during any slaughtering of animals or handling of carcasses.

Mr. Domenech said targeted vaccination campaigns may help to protect uninfected ruminant animals in high-risk areas such as wetlands but will not work with already infected herds and areas.

"Vaccination of infected herds arrives too late for controlling the disease and must be avoided as it may aggravate the situation," he said. "The repeated use of needles and other equipment during vaccination campaigns could actually help to spread the disease from infected to healthy animals."

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711130919.html

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 60 people in Sudan - WHO

Rift Valley Fever in Sudan - update 2

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_11_14/en/

14 November 2007

As of 14 November 2007, 329 human cases, including 96 deaths (case-fatality rate, 29%) have been reported from White Nile, Sennar, Gazeera States. Cases reported in Khartoum State are not indigenous cases but were imported from one of the other affected States. The most rapid increase in human cases has been seen in Gazeera State, which now accounts for more than half of the human cases. The cases being reported in Gazeera State are in an area close to irrigation canals and are linked to naturally occurring cycles involving livestock and mosquitoes which are abundant in the irrigation zone.

On 11 November the Sudanese Federal Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries reported to Office International des Epizooties (OIE) that Rift Valley Fever had been found on 29 October in samples taken from animals in White Nile State. It is anticipated that following this declaration, a well-integrated control program for limiting the disease in both human and animal populations will now be implemented.

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations has deployed a senior animal health expert to the country to assist veterinary services with prevention and control measures in animals. The Ministry of Health and WHO Country Office have presented a plan for the prevention and control of the disease in humans to international donors in Khartoum. The WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office and WHO headquarters are supporting the national response, mobilizing epidemiologists and working with partners to enhance national laboratory capacity for RVF.

Social mobilization activities are now under-way to alert the local population to the human health risks associated with this disease in animals. However, more intensive efforts are urgently needed, using all locally available media, including television and radio channels, as well as community and religious leaders, to ensure that at-risk communities are fully aware of the measures that need to be taken to reduce the risk of human infection.

[hawkeye]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 60 people in Sudan - WHO

Sudanese Outbreak Of Rift Valley Fever Continues
Friday, 16 November 2007, 10:42 am
Press Release: United Nations

The number of confirmed cases and deaths from the outbreak in Sudan of the viral haemorrhagic disease known as Rift Valley Fever (RVF) continues to rise, the United Nations World Health Organization reports, but authorities are stepping up measures to try to contain its spread.

At least 329 cases of RVF have been confirmed as of yesterday in three states in eastern Sudan, WHO said in its latest update, up from 228 cases reported a week ago. Some 96 people have now died, an increase of 12 in the past seven days.

The outbreak has so far been confined largely to White Nile, Sinnar and Gezira states, and WHO said the cases that have been reported in Khartoum state, which surrounds the Sudanese capital, are not indigenous but were imported from one of the three affected states.

Gezira is witnessing the greatest increase in human cases, according to WHO, with most being reported in an area close to irrigation canals that is home to livestock and mosquitoes.

Transmitted by mosquitoes, RVF is a dangerous disease that affects both livestock - including sheep, goats, cattle and camels - and humans, but is usually well-established in animal populations by the time the first human cases are observed.

Humans become infected through mosquito bites or direct contact with infected material and liquids such as animal blood during slaughtering, while the uncooked milk of infected animals can also pose a risk. No cases of human-to-human transmission have ever been reported.

While some infected people experience no detectable symptoms, others develop flu-like fever, muscle pain, headaches, joint pain, vomiting, loss of appetite and sensitivity to light. In more severe cases patients can also experience lesions in their eyes, neurological problems, liver impairment and haemorrhagic fever symptoms including widespread bleeding.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has deployed a senior animal health expert to Sudan to assist local veterinary services with prevention and control measures in animals, while the WHO Country Office and the Sudanese Health Ministry have presented a joint response plan to international donors in Khartoum.

WHO said it is also anticipating that the Sudanese Federal Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries will now implement an integrated control programme to try to limit the spread of RVF. This programme will include social mobilization activities to raise awareness among the local population about the health risks of the disease.

But the agency called for greater measures to be introduced, taking advantage of all media, including television and radio, and the support of community and religious leaders, to ensure that at-risk communities are more aware.

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 60 people in Sudan - WHO

Sudanese clerics clear sacrifice of sick animals

KHARTOUM, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Clerics have given Sudanese Muslims the all-clear to sacrifice animals infected by a Rift Valley Fever outbreak in coming festivities, local media reported on Sunday.

The deadly disease has so far killed 96 people in Sudan and threatens to devastate the country's huge livestock industry.

Religious scholars have now ruled that animals suspected of having the disease will still be acceptable sacrifices for the major Muslim festival of Eid ul-Adha, daily newspaper Akhir Lahzah reported.

The Board of Sudanese Religious Scholars ruled that Muslims were only banned from sacrificing animals with a disease mentioned in the Hadith, a collection of the sayings of the Prophet, the paper said.

Sudan's Ministry of Animal Resources has claimed there is no sign of Rift Valley Fever among livestock, despite the confirmed human cases. But the World Health Organisation last week said Sudan had reported cases of the disease in animals in the country's White Nile State.

Rift Valley Fever can kill as many as half the people who contract it, and has no effective human vaccine. It spreads to humans from infected livestock via contaminated blood or mosquitoes.

Eid ul-Adha, which celebrates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, falls this year on Dec 20.

http://wap.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HEA830167.htm

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 60 people in Sudan - WHO

Sudan says suspected Rift Valley Fever kills nearly 100


KHARTOUM (AFP) ? Nearly 100 people have died of suspected Rift Valley Fever with over 360 more infected, Sudan said on Tuesday, after initially being slow to confirm an outbreak of the deadly disease.

The health ministry said 94 people had died and 362 been infected in the suspected outbreak concentrated in White Nile, Sinnar and Al-Jazira states, south of Khartoum.

Ministry epidemiologist Issam Mohammed Abdallah released the figures in a meeting with health officials, the official SUNA news agency reported.

Abdallah said the disease could be transmitted by eating uncooked meat, drinking unpasteurised milk or close proximity to infected animals.

Fear of contracting the disease has caused a significant decline in meat consumption, the Khartoum press reported.

On November 9, the World Health Organisation said more than 80 people had died of suspected Rift Valley Fever and that more than 25 of almost 230 suspected cases in Sudan had been confirmed by laboratory analysis.

There are no vaccines for humans who contract Rift Valley Fever, usually via mosquitos.

Victims usually experience fever, general weakness, back pain, dizziness, vomiting of blood and extreme weight loss at the onset of the illness.

Many patients recover within a week but others can die, including those with weakened immune systems, experts say.

The fever was first isolated in Kenya's Rift Valley region in 1930s but has since been recorded elsewhere on the continent and overseas.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gjl7TDwdwEItVymflR7RWD0zoSFw

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 164 people in Sudan - WHO

Rift Valley Fever in Sudan - update 3

22 November 2007

Human cases of Rift Valley fever (RVF) continue to occur in Sudan, with more than 221 cases reported in the last two weeks. As of 21 November 2007, 436 human RVF cases, including 161 deaths have been reported from White Nile, Sennar, and Gazeera States.

In addition 15 cases including 3 deaths were reported in Khartoum State, but they were most likely infected in the other affected areas.

Gazeera State continues to report the most human cases, and now accounts for 271 cases and 100 deaths.

In RVF outbreaks, the vast majority of human infections result from direct or indirect contact with the blood or organs of infected animals. The virus can be transmitted to humans through the handling of animal tissue during slaughtering or butchering, assisting with animal births, conducting veterinary procedures, or from the disposal of carcasses or fetuses.

Human infections have also resulted from the bites of infected mosquitoes. Humans may also become infected with RVF by ingesting the unpasteurized or uncooked milk or meat of infected animals.

Key public health measures include social mobilization, to help people who come into contact with cattle, sheep and other animals, to adopt safe handling and slaughtering practices; epidemiological measures such as active case finding; supportive clinical measures; vector control to stop the spread of disease, primarily between animals but also from animals to humans; and laboratory diagnosis capacity.

The national response to the outbreak is being managed by an inter-ministerial Task Force, with the participation, inter alia, of the Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries.

This Task Force is responsible for managing integrated action to control the spread of the disease and to decrease the impact on human and animal health. In support of the Task Force, State and Federal Ministers of Health met on 20 November to discuss the response activities and called for systematic measures to control the spread of disease in animal populations, including controls on animal movement.

The WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office and WHO headquarters continues to support the Sudan Federal Ministry of Health in its role as part of the national Task Force, through the provision of technical support.

Continued, integrated intensive social mobilization efforts are urgently needed, using all locally available media, including television and radio channels, as well as community and religious leaders, to ensure that at-risk communities are fully aware of the measures that need to be taken to reduce the risk of human infection.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_11_22/en/index.html

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 164 people in Sudan - WHO

UN agency: Rift Valley Fever in Sudan could spread with movement of animals

The Associated Press

Friday, November 23, 2007

ROME: The spread of Rift Valley Fever in Sudan could escalate in coming weeks as millions of animal are expected to be moved around during a Muslim holiday, a U.N. food agency warned Friday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization said the disease ? which has so far killed 164 people, according to the World Health Organization ? could spread further as farmers drive herds of sheep around the country.

Muslims all over the world usually sacrifice a sheep to celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday. This year, the holiday is celebrated around Dec. 20.

FAO said it offered to send a team of animal health experts to Sudan to help veterinary authorities set up monitoring programs. The Rome-based agency said it had urged local authorities and religious leaders to launch an awareness campaign.

The agency also said that Egypt and Saudi Arabia have banned livestock imports from Sudan.

Rift Valley Fever affects sheep, goats, cattle, camels and people, FAO said.

It is normally a mild disease with a fatality rate of around 1 percent. But in patients who develop the hemorrhagic fever form, the fatality rate is at around 50 percent, according to WHO.

There is no treatment for the disease, which is spread to humans mostly through contact with the blood and organs of infected animals or from bites of infected mosquitoes.

http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=8452190

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 211 people in Sudan - WHO

Date: 21 Dec 2007

Rift Valley Fever in Sudan - update 20 Dec 2007

Human cases of Rift Valley fever (RVF) continue to occur in Sudan. As of 19 December 2007, a total of 601 human RVF cases, including 211 deaths, have been reported from White Nile, Sennar, Gazeera and River Nile States.

In addition 31 cases including 7 deaths were reported in Khartoum State, but they are believed to have acquired the infection in the other affected areas. Gazeera State continues to report the most human cases, and now accounts for 406 cases and 148 deaths.

In RVF outbreaks, the vast majority of human infections result from direct or indirect contact with the blood or organs of infected animals.

The virus can be transmitted to humans through the handling of animal tissue during slaughtering or butchering, assisting with animal births, conducting veterinary procedures, or from the disposal of carcasses or fetuses.

Human infections have also resulted from the bites of infected mosquitoes. Humans may also become infected with RVF by ingesting the unpasteurized or uncooked milk or meat of infected animals.

Continued, integrated intensive social mobilization efforts are urgently needed, using all locally available media, including television and radio channels, as well as community and religious leaders, to ensure that at-risk communities are fully aware of the measures that need to be taken to reduce the risk of human infection.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/AMMF-7A4FKS?OpenDocument

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_12_21/en/index.html

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 222 people in Sudan - WHO

Rift Valley Fever in Sudan - update 5

22 January 2008

Human cases of Rift Valley fever (RVF) in Sudan have decreased continuously in recent weeks. As of 15 January 2008, a cumulative total of 698 cases, including 222 deaths, has been reported from six states (Gazeera, Kassala, Khartoum, River Nile, Sinnar and White Nile), yielding an overall CFR of 32.4%.

While active surveillance continues in all affected states, no new cases have been reported since 5 January.

Only Gazeera state has reported cases with date of onset in 2008, while several additional cases have been reported retrospectively with date of onset in November or December 2007.

Several of the newly added cases evidence ocular presentation, which is typically a late-occurring feature of RVF infection.

Case management related interventions and health education and vector control efforts are continuing.

WHO continues to support the Sudan Ministry of Health in preparedness for viral haemorrhagic fever and other seasonal outbreaks and in the procurement of essential supplies, enhancing surveillance and training activities.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2008_01_22/en/index.html

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Rift Valley Fever kills 222 people in Sudan - WHO

Sudan outbreak of Rift Valley Fever abates - WHO

Wed 23 Jan 2008,


GENEVA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Sudan's outbreak of deadly Rift Valley Fever has abated, with only one state reporting new human infections in 2008, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

The virus has killed a total of 222 people of the nearly 700 that have been stricken in the past months, according to a WHO statement released late on Tuesday.

Most have been herders and farmers who catch the disease from handling the tissue of infected animals during slaughtering or butchering, while helping with animal births, and in veterinary procedures.

Humans can also become infected with Rift Valley Fever from mosquito bites or after consuming unpasteurised or uncooked milk or meat from animals carrying the virus. In its most severe form, it can cause blindness, coma, or haemorrhage.

The WHO said Sudan's incidence of the disease has "decreased continuously" in recent weeks and only the Gazeera state has had new cases so far this year.

It said it would continue to assist health authorities in Sudan prepare for seasonal outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever through enhanced surveillance and training.

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL2381867.html