Detection of Rift Valley Fever Virus Interepidemic Activity in Some Hotspot Areas of Kenya by Sentinel Animal Surveillance, 2009–2012

Autor: Jacqueline Kasiiti Lichoti, Absolomon Kihara, Abuu A. Oriko, Leonard Ateya Okutoyi, James Ogaa Wauna, David P. Tchouassi, Caroline C. Tigoi, Steve Kemp, Rosemary Sang, Rees Murithi Mbabu
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2014
Předmět:
Zdroj: Veterinary Medicine International, Vol 2014 (2014)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2090-8113
2042-0048
DOI: 10.1155/2014/379010
Popis: Rift Valley fever virus causes an important zoonotic disease of humans and small ruminants in Eastern Africa and is spread primarily by a mosquito vector. In this region, it occurs as epizootics that typically occur at 5–15-year intervals associated with unusual rainfall events. It has hitherto been known that the virus is maintained between outbreaks in dormant eggs of the mosquito vector and this has formed the basis of understanding of the epidemiology and control strategies of the disease. We show here that seroconversion and sporadic acute disease do occur during the interepidemic periods (IEPs) in the absence of reported cases in livestock or humans. The finding indicates that previously undetected low-level virus transmission during the IEPs does occur and that epizootics may also be due to periodic expansion of mosquito vectors in the presence of both circulating virus and naïve animals.
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