Identification of drivers of Rift Valley fever after the 2013-14 outbreak in Senegal using serological data in small ruminants

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Feb 2;16(2):e0010024. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010024. eCollection 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne disease mostly affecting wild and domestic ruminants. It is widespread in Africa, with spillovers in the Arab Peninsula and the southwestern Indian Ocean. Although RVF has been circulating in West Africa for more than 30 years, its epidemiology is still not clearly understood. In 2013, an RVF outbreak hit Senegal in new areas that weren't ever affected before. To assess the extent of the spread of RVF virus, a national serological survey was implemented in young small ruminants (6-18 months old), between November 2014 and January 2015 (after the rainy season) in 139 villages. Additionally, the drivers of this spread were identified. For this purpose, we used a beta-binomial ([Formula: see text]) logistic regression model. An Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation (INLA) approach was used to fit the spatial model. Lower cumulative rainfall, and higher accessibility were both associated with a higher RVFV seroprevalence. The spatial patterns of fitted RVFV seroprevalence pointed densely populated areas of western Senegal as being at higher risk of RVFV infection in small ruminants than rural or southeastern areas. Thus, because slaughtering infected animals and processing their fresh meat is an important RVFV transmission route for humans, more human populations might have been exposed to RVFV during the 2013-2014 outbreak than in previous outbreaks in Senegal.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animal Diseases / epidemiology*
  • Animal Diseases / virology
  • Animal Husbandry
  • Animals
  • Disease Outbreaks / veterinary*
  • Humans
  • Logistic Models
  • Rain
  • Rift Valley Fever / epidemiology*
  • Rift Valley Fever / transmission
  • Rift Valley fever virus / immunology
  • Rift Valley fever virus / isolation & purification
  • Ruminants / virology
  • Senegal / epidemiology
  • Seroepidemiologic Studies
  • Viral Zoonoses / epidemiology

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Food And Agriculture Organization (FAO) with grant number FAO/TCP/SEN/3503 to I. S. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.