RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service

Situation Update No. 1

Posted:2010-03-10, 04:21:46 [UTC]

Ref.no.: EH-20100310-25260-ZAF

Situation Update No. 1
On 2010-03-10 at 04:30:34 [UTC]

Event: Epidemic Hazard
Location: South Africa MultiStates Free State and Northern Cape

Number of Deads: 1 person(s)
Number of Infected: 6 person(s)

An outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in the Free State has resulted in the death of one person and six others hospitalised. Deputy health minister Dr Molefi Sefularo has confirmed that a 45 year old patient was admitted to a mine hospital on February 26 with minor symptoms of what was suspected to be Congo fever and he died a day later. Only on March 4 it was confirmed that the patient had been infected with RVF. The health department reported that the six other patients displaying mild symptoms of the RVF were under observation. According to the World Health Organisation RVF is a disease that mostly affects animals but has the capacity to infect humans. Infection could cause severe disease in both animals and humans even leading to death. Mostly livestock in the central Free State (Lejweleputswa District, Bultfontein area) and the Northern Cape were affected by the outbreak. Selufaro said the outbreak was under control and did not constitute a crisis. He said the national and provincial outbreak response teams in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) were responding to the outbreak. "We have good surveillance systems in place to determine the cause, notify, control and manage the outbreak, working closely with our partners the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) and National Health Laboratory Services," he said.