HEALTH-AFRICA: Gains Reported Against Deadly Fever

By Moyiga Nduru Reprint | | Print |

Moyiga Nduru

NAIROBI, Feb 10 1998 (IPS) - A visibly happy Mohamed Abdi said he gave praise to Allah when he heard that the deadly Rift Valley Fever was now less prevalent in his home area in Kenya’s North-Eastern Province.

“It is a great relief that the frightening disease is finally under control. I hope the worst is now over,” said the businessman.

He told IPS on Tuesday that many people who had fled as a result of the epidemic were now considering returning home to Garrisa, the main town in the province.

The news that the haemorrhagic fever, caused by a virus, was releasing its hold on the area was broken by Dr Mike Ryan, who headed a U.N. World Health Organisation (WHO) team to the province.

He told journalists here on Monday that the epidemic, which has killed 400 people in Kenya and 80 across the border in Somalia, was receding. “We have recorded only 14 suspected cases in the last ten days,” he said. “These cases will be confirmed or not over the next couple of days.”

Ryan attributed the decline to a reduction of the rains that started four months ago: mosquitoes and other insects that transmit the virus need wet conditions in order to breed.

“The mosquitoes themselves start to die off once the atmosphere start to dry out,” he said, “so I think that we are seeing a natural decrease in the cases because the virus is beginning to disappear. And I think the people have taken heed and tried not to slaughter sick animals.”

Rift Valley fever is commonly found in sub-Saharan Africa. The viral disease, which derives its name from the Rift Valley of East Africa where it has been prevalent, is transmitted primarily by infected mosquitoes and other biting insects, although it is is also occasionally spread through contact with the body fluids of infected animals.

“Rift Valley fever is generally a very mild disease and only a very small percentage of people get the haemorrhagic type of the disease,” said Ryan.

He said an experimental vaccine exists: it is used to protect laboratory workers who deal with blood specimens that present a high risk of infection, but has not yet been approved for general use.

“It would be interesting in the future to see whether a vaccine does become available and how effective that vaccine will be,” said Ryan. But, he added, “I think it will take a number of years before we can even address the issue of the new vaccine.”

Ryan said his team experienced tremendous logistical problems during its stay in the area.

The unusually heavy rains, which began in mid-October, have only recently tapered off, and the floods they caused have destroyed roads and bridges. As a result most deliveries of relief supplies have to be made by air or by boat.

“Roads are flooded, and many of the communities are still effectively cut off from the outside,” Ryan explained. To get to them, his team had to use mainly helicopter transport.

“Even finding those communities can be difficult as many have been displaced by the floods,” added Ryan. “And many towns that existed on the map before no longer exist and new communities are formed in areas, maybe not far away.”

More than a million people have been affected by the floods in north-eastern Kenya and southern Somalia. On Tuesday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) appealed for 17 million dollars to keep up deliveries of food and other vital supplies to the affected communities. The WFP said it planned to help 657,500 Somalis through Jul 31 and 390,700 Kenyans until the end of February.

The appeal to the international donor community followed a WFP report on Jan 27 that funds for transporting food by air to the flooded areas were almost exhausted.

The WFP said it was forced to borrow one million dollars from its Immediate Response Account for emergencies in order to keep the air operation going at a reduced rate, pending the response to the new appeal.