Rift Valley fever in South Africa

 

The objective of this project is to collect essential data for Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) epidemiology and ecology that has been neglected by the significant amount of research previously conducted on the virus. This will be accomplished through a mechanistic understanding of the relationship between mosquito abundance and succession, rainfall and satellite derived vegetation indices, wild and domestic ruminant immunity to the virus at multiple scales and in multiple species and a better understanding of the patterns of human infection with RVFV in South Africa. This research also provides the critical data needed to better predict the spread of the virus should it ever be introduced into the United States. The project is led by EcoHealth Alliance in collaboration with South Africa’s Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Disease National Institute for Communicable Diseases (CEZD-NICD) and the NASA GSFC GIMMS Group.

 

Links to Graphics

 

Cumulative Rainfall

Mokala Site2 Site3 Site4 Bloemfontein

 

 

Rainfall Maps and Distributions