Kenya Says Rift Valley Fever Returns, Two Dead
Date: 21-Sep-07
Country: KENYA
Author: Juliana Adhiambo
Officials had first worried that the two women who died in
Nakuru district, a tourist hotspot, had the Ebola virus, which
broke out last week in nearby Democratic Republic of Congo.
"This is not an Ebola outbreak, it is Rift Valley fever,"
government spokesman Alfred Mutua told reporters in Nairobi.
Transmitted to humans by mosquito bites or close contact
with contaminated animals, Rift Valley fever can cause havoc in
Kenya's important meat trade.
The movement of livestock was temporarily halted earlier
this year when the first outbreak spread from Kenya to Somalia
and Tanzania, killing more than 100 people in each country.
In severe cases, the disease triggers haemorrhaging in
humans, causing the victim to vomit blood or bleed to death.
Outbreaks of the fever, named after the vast fissure running
from Syria down to Mozambique, are thought to be cyclical. A
1997-1998 outbreak killed hundreds of Kenyans.