Revista de ciencia veterinaria y diagnóstico médico

Review on Socio Economic Impact of Rift Valley Fever

Yared Girmay*

The livestock sub-sector plays a vital role in national economy of many developed and developing countries. Rift valley fever is acute or per-acute arthropod born zoonotic disease of domestic ruminants. The disease predominantly confined to Africa and belongs to genus Phlebovirus, in family of Bunyaviridae. It a seasonal disease with higher occurrence during heavy rainfall seasons, which allows the vector population to breed and its appearance correlated with vectors density. For endemic area, diagnosis depends on epidemiology, clinical sign and microscopic lesion but confirmation of diagnosis made in the laboratory by using virus isolation or immunological tests are needed. RVF has a dramatic impact on producers and livestock industries,  affecting public and animal health, food security and the livelihood of the pastoralist communities. RVF also has an impact on international trade and other agro-industries. The risk of introducing RVF into disease-free countries via the importation of an infected animal or mosquito is real, and the consequent restriction of access to export markets may induce dramatic economic consequences for national and local economies. Economic impacts of the ban are likely to be massive. Many of these outbreaks have been devastating to farming economies due to associated livestock losses and prohibited trade, especially in the pastoral areas where livestock are the major source of food and income. With high numbers of vector species present in disease-free regions, the intensification of international trade and effects of climate change, rift valley fever is now considered a major challenge in global zoonotic disease control. Therefore, epidemiological study to know the extent of the disease and provision of preexposure vaccine for highly risk groups as well as pre-export animal inspections are important control measures to be practiced.