Saudi Arabia - Suspected RVF patient in Asir

[Gert van der Hoek]

RVF disease back in Asir?

ABHA – A case of a 40-year-old Bangladeshi worker who has been admitted into the ICU in a private hospital in Asir region with suspected laboratory characteristics of the Rift Valley Fever (RVF) has brought back harsh memories of the early reports of the outbreak of the disease in Jizan, border city with Yemen, in September 2000.

The man was initially diagnosed with an unknown type of fever and elevated liver enzyme levels, both indicators of the RVF.

The Asir Agriculture Department has recently acted on media reports of suspected cattle infected with the disease in different villages in the region by sending specimens from there for lab analysis in Riyadh for immunoglobulin M (IgM). The lab tests were positive for IgM, antibody to Rift Valley Fever virus in domestic ruminants.

“There are strong suspicions of the RVF outbreak again in the region, but they are still not confirmed,” said Mubark Al-Mutalqah, director of the Asir Agriculture Department. The symptoms could be either a real viral infection or a side effect of the antibody injection previously used on the animals to ward off the virus, he said. “We are still waiting for the final lab reports from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture to confirm the source of the IgM as we are closely monitoring the area,” he said.

If the disease were confirmed, the government agencies would work hard to combat it through sending planes to spray insecticide to kill the mosquitoes which are thought to be spreading the disease. RVF is a mosquito-borne zoonotic disease affecting domestic ungulates (especially goats and sheep) characterized by large epizootics during periods of heavy rainfall with associated outbreaks in humans. Most human infection is associated with an uncomplicated febrile illness or is unapparent.

More severe complications include retinitis, Hepatitis, renal failure, hemorrhagic fever, encephalitis, and death. According to recent research, if the disease breaks out, it may be transmitted in an approximately 600 km area, including the flood plains of the wadis extending from the Sarawat mountains to the Red Sea coastal plains. The duration from disease onset to hospitalization is 3.3 days and the average time from disease onset to death is 6.3 days.

A Health Ministry report said Rift Valley Fever killed 124 people in the Kingdom between September 2000 and May 2001, while 760 of the 884 infected people recovered.

The Kingdom has since either banned or carefully examined the import of livestock from several African countries as well as from Yemen.
Although Rift Valley Fever was first identified in 1930, after an epidemic among sheep in Kenya, it has also affected Egypt, Madagascar, Mauritania and Somalia, according to the World Health Organization. –

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2008120323652

'Asir Province is in Southern Saudi Arabia, capital Abha.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Saudi Arabia - Suspected RVF patient in Asir

RIFT VALLEY FEVER - SAUDI ARABIA (03): (ASIR), HUMAN, NOT
*********************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
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ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Date: Tue 16 Dec 2008
Source: Saudigazette [edited]
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2008121624365


RVF detected in Asir region
---------------------------
Asir region governorate has banned the transportation including the
entry and exit of livestock to and from Mahayil Governorate
especially in areas and rural centers where positive samples for
antibodies of Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus were detected.

The region's governorate issued directives to Mahayil to prevent the
movement of livestock to and from the governorate and to coordinate
with the concerned authorities. It directed the security authorities
to implement these measures and asked the Ministry of Agriculture
branch to pinpoint the locations of afflicted herds and to cooperate
in vaccinating livestock and spraying animal sheds, to report new RVF
cases immediately and to monitor veterinary pharmacies. Earlier, the
region's governorate set up an operations room to monitor any RVF
cases.

In another development, blood samples taken from the expatriate
Azizul Haq Kalamiyah, 40, suspected of suffering from RVF has tested
negative. The reports came in from the regional laboratory in Jeddah,
said Sa'eed Abdullah Al-Neqair, Director of Health Information and
Public Relations in Asir Region Directorate of Health.

Last month [November 2008] when the reports of the virus 1st came to
light, the authorities took immediate preventive measures.

[Byline: Al-Hasan Aal Sayyid]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[Posting 20081203.3798 included media-derived information about a
case of a 40-year-old Bangladeshi worker who has been admitted into
the ICU [intensive care unit] in a private hospital in Asir region
with suspected laboratory characteristics of Rift Valley fever (RVF).
The man was initially diagnosed with an unknown type of fever and
elevated liver enzyme levels, both indicators of the RVF.

If the current newswire addresses the same patient, as it seems, then
it now appears that this was a false alarm.

However, as discussed in posting 20081211.3894, RVF may have become
endemic is certain parts of the Kingdom, mass vaccinations are being
applied in livestock, and alertness deserves to be maintained --
particularly during the rainy season. - Mod.AS]

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,75270