Temporal and spatial history of Rift Valley fever in South Africa : 1950 to 2011

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Authors

Pienaar, N.J. (Nicolaas Johannes)
Thompson, P.N. (Peter N.)

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

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Publisher

AOSIS Open Journals

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).

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N.J.P. (University of Pretoria) performed the study and wrote the article. P.N.T. (University of Pretoria) was the academic study leader for the MSc degree of which this report formed part and assisted in study design, data analysis and writing of the article.

Keywords

South Africa, RVF

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Pienaar, N.J. & Thompson, P.N., 2013, ‘Temporal and spatial history of Rift Valley fever in South Africa: 1950 to 2011’, Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 80(1), Art. #384, 13 pages. http://dx.DOI.org/ 10.4102/ojvr.v80i1.384