Rift Valley Fever in Rhodesia: Report of a Case in a Laboratory Worker

Abstract

Rift Valley fever or enzootic hepatitis is an acute virus infection transmitted by mosquitoes and is pathogenic under natural conditions for sheep and cattle. Man may be infected by direct transmission through contact with meat or tissue of diseased animals or accidental contamination, as in the case of veterinary and laboratory research workers, and suffers from a short febrile illness which is almost never fatal. Epidemics of the disease occur in sheep and cattle, when it is associated with a high rate of mortality amongst lambs and a high incidence of abortion amongst pregnant ewes.