"An outbreak similar to that reported in north-eastern Kenya has been reported in Somalia in the flooded area delimited by the towns of Belet Weyne and Johar on the Shabelle River. Four of 13 blood samples from suspected cases have been positive for RVF. [This area is in central Somalia and a significant distance from the Kenya border. It raises the distinct possibility that RVF may also be in the central Ogaden region of Ethiopia. MHJ] The WHO team assembled in Kenya has established a small coordinating group for the Rift Valley Fever Task Force. It will comprise representatives from the Kenyan Government and from participating agencies and international organizations in Somalia and Kenya. This group will facilitate the rapid planning, coordination and implementation of surveillance and control activities. The surveillance system in both countries will be extended and strengthened in order to detect and confirm suspected cases. Standardized clinical case definitions and reporting methods will be used allowing for a better understanding of the epidemiology of the outbreak. The WHO Collaborating Centre at the National Institute for Virology in Johannesburg has confirmed RVF virus infection in a second batch of 41 blood specimens. The virus was isolated in three specimens from human cases and six other specimens had IgM antibody indicating recent RVF virus infection. RVF virus was detected by PCR in one of seven blood specimens collected from goats."

"Press Release WHO/9 - 16 January 1998: RIFT VALLEY FEVER OUTBREAK WIDESPREAD IN KENYA

The outbreak of Rift Valley fever, which had previously been reported in the north-eastern Province of Kenya, appears to be present in other parts of the country, according to WHO experts now in the country. Moreover, the outbreak is also equally serious in neighbouring Somalia. Approximately 300 deaths from this outbreak have been reported to the Government in Nairobi. The World Health Organization (WHO) has received estimates of an approximately equal number of deaths due to the outbreak in Somalia. The first reports came from the north-eastern Province in December 1997. In recent days, reports of humans and animals suffering from a disease with the symptoms of Rift Valley fever (RVF) have now been reported in Kenya's north-eastern, eastern, Rift Valley, central and coast provinces. These areas include some national parks and reported cases have also come from near Nairobi and Mombasa. "At this point, we would not recommend that travellers cancel their journeys to Kenya but they should be aware that Rift Valley fever is transmitted by mosquitoes. If they travel to areas near where outbreaks have been reported, they should take proper anti-insect measures. These include wearing long-sleeved shirts and long trousers and using mosquito repellent and bed nets," said Dr. David Heymann, Director of WHO's Division of Emerging and other Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Control (EMC). A second team of WHO experts arrived in Kenya on 15 January and, in collaboration with the Kenyan Ministry of Health, has elaborated a provisional plan to combat the outbreak. Elements of the plan include case-based, clinical surveillance in hospitals throughout Kenya to detect new cases and investigate the increased spread of the disease, and a systematic sampling and testing of specimens taken from humans and animals which have contracted the disease. WHO is working with national and international partners to improve access to the northeast of Kenya, which has been largely cut off because of floods, and to develop a plan for control of the disease adapted to local conditions. For the moment, information on the outbreak from northeastern Kenya is still sparse and WHO and its partners will be working in coming weeks to increase surveillance of and testing for Rift Valley fever and other diseases potentially associated with this outbreak. Rift Valley fever may not be the sole cause of the outbreak, but recent evidence suggests that malaria and cholera are not playing as great a role as has been previously reported. Famine, on the other hand, has been a significant cause of death."--: WHO WER and Epidemiological Bulletin, January 16, 1998 <http://www.who.ch/programmes/emc/news.htm> "[For some time the official reports have limited the Kenyan deaths to some 300 deaths. The number has not increased as one might expect. This may reflect either an inability to reach new areas or news censorship. With the Kenyan parliamentarians claiming over 5000, the latter explanation may be what is happening." - Mod.MHJ] --ProMED-mail <promed@usa.healthnet.org>