Rift Valley Fever | रिफ्ट वैली फीवर
Why in News?
Rift Valley Fever returned to attention following outbreaks affecting parts of Africa, highlighting the importance of zoonotic diseases that can affect both livestock and humans.
What is Rift Valley Fever?
Rift Valley Fever, or RVF, is a viral zoonotic disease that primarily affects animals but can also infect humans. It can cause major livestock losses through death and abortion, creating serious public-health and economic consequences.
Causative Virus
RVF is caused by Rift Valley fever virus, a member of the genus Phlebovirus in the family Phenuiviridae.
Animals Affected
The disease commonly affects domesticated animals such as sheep, goats, cattle and camels. Young animals may suffer high mortality, while infection in pregnant livestock can cause large numbers of abortions.
Transmission to Humans
Humans can become infected through direct or indirect contact with blood, organs or other tissues of infected animals. Mosquito bites can also transmit the virus. Several mosquito species can act as vectors, and the dominant vector varies geographically.
Human-to-Human Transmission
No sustained human-to-human transmission of Rift Valley fever virus has been documented.
Incubation Period
The incubation period in humans is generally two to six days.
Symptoms
Many infected people have no symptoms or develop a mild flu-like illness. Symptoms may include fever, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, weakness and backache. Some patients experience nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light.
Severe Disease
A small percentage of patients develop severe complications, including eye disease, meningoencephalitis or haemorrhagic manifestations.
Treatment
There is no widely established specific antiviral treatment for human RVF. Management is mainly supportive, especially in severe cases.
Prevention
Important control measures include vaccination of susceptible livestock where appropriate, mosquito control, safe handling of animals and animal tissues, disease surveillance and public-health education.
Important Dates
- 1931: Rift Valley fever virus was first identified during an outbreak among sheep in Kenya's Rift Valley.
- 1977: A major outbreak occurred in Egypt.
- 1997-98: A major outbreak affected Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania following extensive flooding associated with El Niño conditions.
- September 2000: RVF spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen, marking the first reported occurrence outside Africa.
रिफ्ट वैली फीवर | हिंदी में विस्तृत विवरण
Rift Valley Fever क्या है?
Rift Valley Fever एक viral zoonotic disease है जो मुख्य रूप से animals को प्रभावित करती है, लेकिन humans भी संक्रमित हो सकते हैं। Livestock में इससे मृत्यु और abortion के कारण बड़े आर्थिक नुकसान हो सकते हैं।
कारक वायरस
यह Rift Valley fever virus के कारण होता है, जो Phlebovirus genus और Phenuiviridae family से संबंधित है।
प्रभावित पशु
Sheep, goats, cattle और camels इसके प्रमुख hosts हैं। Young animals में mortality अधिक हो सकती है और pregnant livestock में abortions की संख्या बढ़ सकती है।
मनुष्यों में संक्रमण
Humans infected animals के blood या tissues के संपर्क में आने से संक्रमित हो सकते हैं। Infected mosquito bites भी disease transmit कर सकते हैं।
क्या यह व्यक्ति से व्यक्ति फैलता है?
अब तक sustained human-to-human transmission documented नहीं है।
लक्षण
अधिकांश cases mild होते हैं। Fever, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, weakness और backache हो सकते हैं। गंभीर cases में आंखों, brain या haemorrhagic complications का खतरा हो सकता है।
महत्वपूर्ण तिथियाँ
- 1931: Kenya में virus पहली बार identified हुआ।
- 1977: Egypt में बड़ा outbreak।
- 1997-98: Kenya, Somalia और Tanzania में major outbreak।
- सितंबर 2000: Saudi Arabia और Yemen में cases; Africa के बाहर पहला reported occurrence।