Abstract:
Several outbreaks of Rift Valley fever (RVF) have been documented in South Africa since it first
occurred in the country in 1950. However, there is no comprehensive account of the timing,
location and extent of all known outbreaks. As part of a study investigating the epidemiology
of RVF in South Africa, a full history of outbreaks was compiled using references to the disease
in South Africa from scientific literature, annual reports, disease reports and animal disease
databases. The geographic location and temporal occurrence of each outbreak were recorded
as accurately as allowed by the available records. The result was a better and more complete
picture than has hitherto been available of the spatial and temporal distribution of RVF in
South Africa for the period between 1950 and 2011. Several smaller outbreaks which had not
been described previously in literature were documented. Extensive outbreaks occurred in
the central interior of the country (Free State, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape provinces),
interspersed with smaller outbreaks or long intervening periods of absence, whilst smaller
outbreaks occurred in the eastern part of the country (KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and
Gauteng).
