Rift Valley Fever diagnosed in south, say local authorities

Local authorities in Nassiriyah, a town about 300km south of Baghdad, have asked livestock farmers to take all necessary precautions after laboratory tests showed that some livestock had developed Rift Valley Fever (RVF).



“We were informed by local farmers about strange symptoms appearing among sheep and cattle near Nassiriyah,” said Mandhor Rayhan, a spokesman for Dhi Qar provincial council. “A veterinary doctor who examined the animals suggested they should be laboratory tested for Rift Valley Fever and the suspected diagnosis was confirmed in at least four animals.”



The Nassiriyah medical laboratory chief, Abdel-Rayy Muhammad, said the samples confirmed as positive were being rechecked at the National Baghdad Laboratory over the next 48 hours.



“A recent phone call from a senior official in the National Laboratory said there was possible confirmation of one case but other samples were waiting to be tested,” he said.



Specialists dispatched



Fayad Sulaiman, a senior official in the Ministry of Agriculture in Baghdad, told IRIN a group of specialists were on their way to Dhi Qar to evaluate the situation. “We are retesting again but as a precaution we have sent some specialists to Nassiriyah... We hope it is an isolated case,” Sulaiman said.



“Some vaccines have been sent to Dhi Qar Governorate this morning and we have contacted companies to get more supplies which should arrive within a couple of days,” he added.



“We are seriously concerned about the possibility that the disease might spread,” Dhi Qar provincial council spokesman Rayhan said, adding that affected livestock farmers have been asked to confine their animals within a 2sqkm area until more specialised laboratory tests can be carried out in Baghdad.



According to the World Health Organization (WHO), RVF affects livestock (including cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats and camels) as well as humans. The disease mostly appears in Africa.



People get RVF mainly from infected mosquitoes which act as vectors. The disease can also be spread by contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected animal.



“Our concern is that with the situation as it is in Iraq - with increased poverty, displacement and pools of stagnant water - people might get infected by mosquito bites,” said Rayhan.



Vaccination of livestock



Khalid Idris, a veterinary specialist in Nassiriyah who has been dealing with the problem, told IRIN that livestock in the contaminated farms must be vaccinated as a matter of urgency.



“All sheep, cattle and buffalo in herds within the infected area should be vaccinated immediately with an inactivated RVF vaccine and revaccinated after two to four weeks. But these vaccines have not been available in Iraq since before the US-led invasion in 2003,” Idris said.



According to specialists, however, the vaccines for veterinary use can cause birth defects and abortions in sheep and induce only low-level protection in cattle.



The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said it had not received any details of the outbreak but that it was in touch with the Ministry of Agriculture.



In July 2001 the FAO said RVF had been detected among livestock in Yemen and Saudi Arabia and warned of the possibility of the disease spreading into Iraq. No case was confirmed then but since that time farmers have been advised to vaccinate their livestock periodically, a procedure that, according to Idris, has not taken place in Dhi Qar since February 2002.



“We are urging international organisations and the central government to find quick solutions to the problem,” Idris said.



RVF symptoms



The RVF virus can cause several different syndromes. People who are infected with RVF either show no symptoms or develop a mild fever and liver abnormalities. However, in some patients the illness can progress to haemorrhagic fever (which can lead to shock or haemorrhage), encephalitis (inflammation of the brain, which can lead to headaches, coma, or seizures), or ocular diseases.  



Patients who become ill usually experience fever, generalised weakness, back pain, dizziness, and extreme weight loss at the onset of the illness. Normally, RVF patients recover within two days to one week after catching the illness.  



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