1 dies from Rift Valley Fever

2010-03-06 13:00

Johannesburg - One human death and five further cases of Rift Valley Fever have been reported, the health department said on Saturday.

Spokesperson Fidel Hadebe said five cases were confirmed in the Free State and one in the Northern Cape thus far.

One person died from the illness in the Free State.

"It started off as an animal problem ... but it's been transferred to people ... we advise the people in affected areas to minimise contact with animals as far as possible," Hadebe said.

People can contract the illness when they are bitten by infected mosquitoes or came into contact with sick animals.

No cases of human-to-human transmission were reported, Hadebe said.

The department reacted to the illness in the "context of its normal outbreak response mechanisms", Hadebe said. It was liaising with the agriculture department as part of its response.

According to the World Health Organisation's website the disease is characterised by a "feverish syndrome with sudden onset of flu-like fever, muscle pain, joint pain and headache".

Rift Valley Fever reportedly affected at least 1 000 livestock since the outbreak in areas such as Brandfort, Soutpan and Wesselsbron in the Free State.

Earlier this week reports indicated that the Bultfontein farmers' union asked livestock brokers to stop all auctions in an attempt to curb the outbreak.

The union wants to restrain the movement of livestock within the district in an effort to avoid a general quarantine of the area, after the first outbreak of rift valley fever in the Free State in 35 years.

According to farmers many pregnant cows and ewes in the district have either aborted or died since the outbreak.

The illness was identified for the first time in South Africa in the 1950s with another outbreak in the mid-1970s.

- SAPA