La fièvre de la vallée du Rift, une zoonose tropicale mal connue

Rift Valley fever is a tropical arboviral disease, described in 1931 in Kenya, due to a bunyavirus (genus Phlebovirus), which affects a wide range of domestic and savage animals and human beings. Human can be exposed to virus by handling infected animal tissues and by the vectors (Aedes and Culex). The disease is located mostly in Africa and also in Comoros, Arabian peninsula, Yemen and Egypt. Clinical incidence is high in ruminants, causing abortions in pregnant animals and high mortality rates in newborns. The human disease occurs during periods of intense epizooty, and patients complain of fever, arthralgia, gastrointestinal disturbances, then jaundice, abdominal pain, delirium and sometimes hemorrhagic manifestations. An effective vaccine of animals is the best approach to control the Rift valley disease.