Rift Valley Fever outbreaks in the East African Community: insights from ProMed data (2010-2024)

Rift Valley Fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne zoonotic disease that poses a serious threat to both humans and livestock across various regions, particularly in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and parts of the Indian Ocean Islands. This study seeks to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution and trends of RVF outbreaks within the East African Community (EAC) countries, offering insights into the patterns and progression of these outbreaks in the region.

We conducted a retrospective analysis of the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMed), a digital, event-based disease surveillance system, to identify reports of outbreak events in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and South Sudan from 2010 to 2024. Outbreak events were systematically tabulated by year, and each record was reviewed to assess RVF outbreak characteristics, locations, trends, and spatial-temporal distribution over the past 14 years.

Between 2010 and 2024, 67 RVF outbreaks were documented across Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, and South Sudan, impacting both animal and human populations with confirmed cases and fatalities. Key interventions to contain these outbreaks included restricting animal movement, vaccination campaigns, disease awareness initiatives, enhanced surveillance, contact tracing, isolation, and treatment. Reporting of these outbreaks varied across regions, with a notable monthly increase in cases during May and June and the highest annual incidence observed in 2018.

The recurrent and widespread outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever across East Africa highlight an urgent need for increased investment in research, surveillance, prevention, and control efforts to combat this disease.