DAKAR: Senegal has recorded 17 deaths from Rift Valley Fever, RVF, a health ministry official said Thursday, in a rare major outbreak of the viral disease in the West African country.
With 119 cases reported so far, mostly in northern Senegal’s livestock-producing region, the outbreak is raising concerns about further spread, said Dr. Boly Diop, head of RVF surveillance at the health ministry.
“This is the first time Senegal has counted so many people affected,” Diop told local media.
RVF is a viral disease that mainly affects livestock. Humans typically become infected through mosquito bites or contact with infected animals.
While most human cases are mild or show no symptoms, severe cases can cause eye damage, brain swelling or hemorrhagic fever, which can be fatal, according to the World Health Organization.
Transmission to humans usually occurs during slaughter, births or veterinary work, putting herders, farmers and slaughterhouse workers at a higher risk, the WHO says.
The current outbreak in Senegal was declared on Sept. 21.
Senegal’s last major outbreak dates back to the late 1980s, when it killed more than 200 people in the country and neighboring Mauritania.
RVF outbreaks have also previously occurred in other African countries, including in Kenya and Somalia in 1998 when it killed over 470 people. In 2000, the virus spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen — its first cases outside Africa — killing over 200 people and raising concerns of wider spread to Asia and Europe.
Preventing animal outbreaks through vaccination and reducing mosquito exposure are key to controlling the disease, the WHO says.
RVF has been endemic in northern Senegal since the 1980s and is becoming more frequent across Africa due to climate change, Dr. Merawi Aragaw Tegegne, an epidemiologist with the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told a news conference Thursday.
“If you see torrential rain with quick floods, then sunny days, expect RVF in the coming days with favorable conditions for the vectors,” Tegegne said.
Senegal records 17 deaths in rare major outbreak of Rift Valley Fever
https://arab.news/58zgc
Senegal records 17 deaths in rare major outbreak of Rift Valley Fever
- “This is the first time Senegal has counted so many people affected,” Diop told local media
- RVF is a viral disease that mainly affects livestock
Ukraine president to meet European allies after Trump criticism
- Talks between Ukrainian and US officials in Miami ended on Saturday with no apparent breakthrough
- President Donald Trump accuses Ukrainian leader of not reading the US proposal to end the war with Russia
LONDON: Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky was due to meet with European allies in London on Monday, after President Donald Trump accused him of not reading the US proposal to end the war with Russia.
It comes after days of talks between Ukrainian and US officials in Miami ended on Saturday with no apparent breakthrough, with Zelensky committing to further negotiations.
The Ukrainian president will be received in London by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, along with the German chancellor and French president to discuss the negotiations.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is meanwhile expected in Washington on Monday, where she will meet her American counterpart Marco Rubio.
“The UK and US will reaffirm their commitment to reaching a peace deal in Ukraine,” the Foreign Office in London said, announcing Cooper’s visit.
Moscow has meanwhile continued to strike its neighbor, wounding at least nine people overnight Sunday to Monday, according to Ukrainian officials.
‘Disappointed’
Zelensky said he joined his negotiators for a “very substantive and constructive” call with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during the Miami negotiations.
“Ukraine is committed to continuing to work honestly with the American side to bring about real peace,” Zelensky said on Telegram, adding that the parties agreed “on the next steps and the format of the talks with America.”
But Trump criticized his Ukrainian counterpart on Sunday, telling reporters “I have to say that I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelensky hasn’t yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago.”
Witkoff and Kushner had met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin last week, with Moscow rejecting parts of the US proposal.
French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of Monday’s talks slammed what he called Russia’s “escalatory path.”
“We will continue these efforts with the Americans to provide Ukraine with security guarantees, without which no robust and lasting peace will be possible,” Macron wrote on X.
He added: “We must continue to exert pressure on Russia to compel it to choose peace.”
Hot and cold
Washington’s initial plan to bring an end to the almost four-year war involved Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not been able to win on the battlefield in return for security promises that fall short of Kyiv’s aspirations to join NATO.
But the nature of the security guarantees that Ukraine could get has so far been shrouded in uncertainty, beyond an initial plan saying that jets to defend Kyiv could be based in Poland.
Trump has blown hot and cold on Ukraine since returning to office in January, initially embracing Putin and chastising Zelensky for not being grateful for US support.
But he has also grown frustrated that his efforts to persuade Putin to end the war, including a summit in Alaska, have failed to produce results and he recently slapped sanctions on Russian oil firms.
