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Pests and Diseases

Rift Valley Fever

Viral Diseases of Livestock

A mosquito-borne viral disease of cattle, sheep, goats and camels, first identified in Kenya's Rift Valley in the 1930s, that causes abortion storms in pregnant animals and high mortality in newborn lambs and calves, and that is also a serious zoonotic disease capable of causing hemorrhagic fever in humans. Outbreaks follow periods of unusually heavy rainfall that create the flooded breeding sites its mosquito vectors need, and major epidemics across East Africa, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula have periodically devastated livestock herds and disrupted livestock export trade for years afterward.

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Agent Kind
Virus 1
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Associated With

Cattle, Livestock

Rift Valley fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease causing high abortion and mortality rates in cattle.

Sources
1. Rift Valley Fever (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Opening definition paragraph
    Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a viral disease of humans and livestock that can cause mild to severe symptoms. The mild symptoms may include: fever, muscle pains, and headaches which often last for up to a week. The severe symptoms may include: loss of sight beginning three weeks after the infection, infections of the brain causing severe headaches and confusion, and bleeding together with liver problems which may occur within the first few days.
  • lead description
    A mosquito-borne viral disease of cattle, sheep, goats and camels, first identified in Kenya's Rift Valley in the 1930s, that causes abortion storms in pregnant animals and high mortality in newborn lambs and calves, and that is also a serious zoonotic disease capable of causing hemorrhagic fever in humans.
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