What is Rift Valley Fever, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention
Rift Valley Fever (RVF) Researchers have discovered a new virus spreading from animals to humans, as the world battles the Covid-19 virus. The new virus is known as Rift Valley Fever (RVF). Although it is usually a disease that affects animals including cows, buffaloes, sheep, and goats, it has been known to infect humans.
Researchers at Washington University in the latest outbreak of the deadly Rift Valley Fever (RVF) virus has been discovered in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as how it affects human cells directly. Dr. Safder Ganaie, a virologist from Kashmir, is one of the primary experts involved in the discovery. Dr. Ganaie and his colleagues discovered their discovery, which was published in the journal Cell.
Scientists have now discovered how this virus affects the body, giving hope that the infection will soon be under control. Despite the fact that the majority of instances of the Rift Valley (RVF) virus have been documented in African countries, the World Health Organization has been added to the list of diseases that may become epidemic in the near future. Scientists from the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Toronto, Harvard University, and MIT collaborated on this research.
Rift Valley Fever: What is it, and what causes it?
Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever that primarily affects domesticated animals (such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, and camels), but can sometimes affect humans. Sickness is caused by the RVF virus (RVFV), a member of the genus Phlebovirus, in the order Bunyavirales. Some Bunyavirales viruses, such as hantaviruses and the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus, can also make humans sick. RVF outbreaks can have serious societal consequences, such as considerable economic losses and reduced commerce.
Veterinary officers in Kenya's Rift Valley initially documented RVF in animals in the early 1910s. It may be found throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa, especially West Africa and Madagascar, where sheep and cattle are grown. A case of RVF was discovered in Saudi Arabia in September of 2000. Yemen was also discovered afterward. Rift Valley fever was first discovered outside of Africa by these patients.
Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever that primarily affects domesticated animals (such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, and camels), but can sometimes affect humans. Sickness is caused by the RVF virus (RVFV), a member of the genus Phlebovirus, in the order Bunyavirales. Some Bunyavirales viruses, such as hantaviruses and the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus, can also make humans sick. RVF outbreaks can have serious societal consequences, such as considerable economic losses and reduced commerce.
Veterinary officers in Kenya's Rift Valley initially documented RVF in animals in the early 1910s. It may be found throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa, especially West Africa and Madagascar, where sheep and cattle are grown. A case of RVF was discovered in Saudi Arabia in September of 2000. Yemen was also discovered afterward. Rift Valley fever was first discovered outside of Africa by these patients.
How Rift Valley Fever Virus Transmitted?
Rift Valley fever is contracted by coming into touch with the blood, bodily fluids, or tissues of infected animals, primary livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, and camels. Direct contact with animals can occur during slaughter or butchering, while caring for sick animals, during veterinary operations such as assisting an animal in giving birth, and when eating raw or undercooked animal products.
Infected mosquitoes and, in rare cases, other biting insects can also transmit RVF to humans. When someone inhaled a virus that was in the air, they became infected with the RVF virus (RVFV) in the laboratory (known as aerosol transmission). There has been no evidence of RVF spreading from person to person, and no cases of RVF transmission to healthcare personnel have been reported when normal infection-control precautions were followed.
The RVFV transmission cycle can be described as follows: Female mosquitos can pass the virus on to their children through their eggs (vertical transmission). During dry conditions, the virus remains alive (infectious) for several years in the eggs. More mosquito eggs hatch as a result of excessive rainfall. As mosquito numbers grow, so does the risk of the virus spreading to animals and people. RVFV outbreaks in animals, most typically livestock, resulting in increased handling of diseased animals, raising the risk of human infection.
Rift Valley fever is contracted by coming into touch with the blood, bodily fluids, or tissues of infected animals, primary livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, and camels. Direct contact with animals can occur during slaughter or butchering, while caring for sick animals, during veterinary operations such as assisting an animal in giving birth, and when eating raw or undercooked animal products.
Infected mosquitoes and, in rare cases, other biting insects can also transmit RVF to humans. When someone inhaled a virus that was in the air, they became infected with the RVF virus (RVFV) in the laboratory (known as aerosol transmission). There has been no evidence of RVF spreading from person to person, and no cases of RVF transmission to healthcare personnel have been reported when normal infection-control precautions were followed.
The RVFV transmission cycle can be described as follows: Female mosquitos can pass the virus on to their children through their eggs (vertical transmission). During dry conditions, the virus remains alive (infectious) for several years in the eggs. More mosquito eggs hatch as a result of excessive rainfall. As mosquito numbers grow, so does the risk of the virus spreading to animals and people. RVFV outbreaks in animals, most typically livestock, resulting in increased handling of diseased animals, raising the risk of human infection.
What are the Signs and Symptoms of Rift Valley Fever (RVF)?
After being exposed to the virus, RVFV has a 2–6-day incubation period and can produce a variety of illness syndromes. Most persons with RVF have no symptoms at all or have a minor sickness that includes fever, weakness, back pain, and dizziness. Patients usually recover from their symptoms within two to one week of onset.
A tiny fraction of patients infected with RVFV (8-10%), on the other hand, experience far more severe symptoms, such as:
Encephalitis, or brain inflammation, can cause headaches, coma, or seizures. Ocular disease (eye disease), can sometimes accompany the mild symptoms listed above. Hemorrhagic fever symptoms include jaundice and other signs of liver failure, followed by bloody faeces, vomiting, and bleeding from the mouth, skin, nose, and injection sites.
RVF is a serious disease that causes fever, weakness, abortions (pregnancy loss), and a high rate of severe illness and death in animals, especially in young animals. Infection with the RVFV causes abortion in virtually all livestock pregnancies, and the majority of infected young animals die, although adult animals die at a far lower rate.
After being exposed to the virus, RVFV has a 2–6-day incubation period and can produce a variety of illness syndromes. Most persons with RVF have no symptoms at all or have a minor sickness that includes fever, weakness, back pain, and dizziness. Patients usually recover from their symptoms within two to one week of onset.
A tiny fraction of patients infected with RVFV (8-10%), on the other hand, experience far more severe symptoms, such as:
Encephalitis, or brain inflammation, can cause headaches, coma, or seizures. Ocular disease (eye disease), can sometimes accompany the mild symptoms listed above. Hemorrhagic fever symptoms include jaundice and other signs of liver failure, followed by bloody faeces, vomiting, and bleeding from the mouth, skin, nose, and injection sites.
RVF is a serious disease that causes fever, weakness, abortions (pregnancy loss), and a high rate of severe illness and death in animals, especially in young animals. Infection with the RVFV causes abortion in virtually all livestock pregnancies, and the majority of infected young animals die, although adult animals die at a far lower rate.
How to Diagnosis Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVFV):
Clinical diagnosis of RVF is typically challenging, especially early in the disease's course, because symptoms are often weak and non-specific. Lab testing of blood or other tissue samples is required for a definitive diagnosis of RVF. By using virus isolation in cell culture and molecular techniques, the virus can be discovered in the blood (during illness) and postmortem tissue (reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, or RT-PCR).
Antibody testing with an enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) can also be used to confirm RVFV infection by detecting IgM antibodies, which present briefly as an early response to a recent infection, and IgG antibodies, which last for years. The RVF virus is recognised by IgM and IgG antibodies.
Clinical diagnosis of RVF is typically challenging, especially early in the disease's course, because symptoms are often weak and non-specific. Lab testing of blood or other tissue samples is required for a definitive diagnosis of RVF. By using virus isolation in cell culture and molecular techniques, the virus can be discovered in the blood (during illness) and postmortem tissue (reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, or RT-PCR).
Antibody testing with an enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) can also be used to confirm RVFV infection by detecting IgM antibodies, which present briefly as an early response to a recent infection, and IgG antibodies, which last for years. The RVF virus is recognised by IgM and IgG antibodies.
What is the Treatment of Rift Valley Fever (RVF)?
Rift Valley Fever has no known treatment options. There is no specific treatment for RVF because the majority of cases are minor and self-limiting. Fever and body aches are common symptoms of a mild sickness that can be treated with over-the-counter drugs. People usually recover between two to one week after the onset of their disease. More extreme cases may necessitate hospitalisation, and supportive treatment is usually the only option.
Rift Valley Fever has no known treatment options. There is no specific treatment for RVF because the majority of cases are minor and self-limiting. Fever and body aches are common symptoms of a mild sickness that can be treated with over-the-counter drugs. People usually recover between two to one week after the onset of their disease. More extreme cases may necessitate hospitalisation, and supportive treatment is usually the only option.
Rift Valley Fever World Health Organization RVFV Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever CCHF virus Diagnosis Rift Valley Fever Virus Rift Valley Fever Treatment How Rift Valley Fever Virus Transmitted Signs and Symptoms of Rift Valley Fever
Comments