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DAR ES SALAAM, 12 February2007 (IRIN) - Reports that the viral fever, which has killed at least 100 people in neighbouring Kenya, had spread into Tanzania have caused mounting concern, especially among pastoralists who depend on livestock for their livelihood.
After reports that two people in the northern region of Arusha had died of Rift Valley Fever (RVF), the government on Thursday announced measures to curb the spread of the viral disease, including a ban on the movement of cattle and other livestock between Kenya and Tanzania.
"What's gone wrong with our society [that] dangerous and highly contagious diseases continue to attack us?" asked Mwanamkasi Subira, a food vendor in Dar es Salaam, the country's commercial capital. "It has been very difficult to eradicate malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes, now this is another big challenge for us."
RVF is an animal viral disease, which also affects human beings. It was first detected in 1930 in Kenya's Rift Valley region. The last outbreak occurred in Kenya in 1997, coinciding with El-Niño rains because the disease is generally observed when there is heavy rainfall and flooding, which increase the breeding of mosquitoes that transmit the virus to humans.
According to the Arusha-based Veterinary Investigations Centre, northern zone, people can become infected with RVF by coming into contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected animal, drinking unboiled milk from an infected animal or being bitten by an infected mosquito.
The first symptoms in humans include headache, fever, muscle pain, backache and vomiting. Some people develop stiff necks and photophobia. Other symptoms include vomiting blood, bleeding from the nose and bloody stool.
The latest outbreak began in November in northern Kenya. The only outbreak in Tanzania was reported in the 1990s, also in the north of the country.
The government estimates there are at least 18 million head of cattle in the country, with most livestock-keepers being nomads who move around the country in search of grazing fields.
Livestock farmers and traders often walk with their animals for hundreds of kilometres to markets in cities and municipalities where they fetch good prices for their products.
Subira has found reports about RVF confusing; she is particularly afraid because the disease is easily transmitted.
Rashidi Matonya, a butcher in Mombasa area in Dar es Salaam, said reports of the disease having spread to the country came as a big blow to his business.
"People are scared," he said. "They are reluctant to buy meat, some insist on being shown the blue stamp of meat inspectors."
Venance Balama, the acting Arusha Regional Commissioner, said last week: "The disease has already caused two deaths. The victims reportedly ate mutton at Terat village in Monduli District."
He said samples from the two victims were sent to the Nairobi-based Centers for Disease Control laboratories and the results confirmed they had died of RVF.
Regarding the measures announced by the government aimed at curbing the spread of the disease, Dar es Salaam sociologist Upendo Mwinchande said: "Restricting movements of livestock will deal a major blow to both owners and traders."
Veterinary officials in Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Manyara, Morogoro and Tanga regions have collected blood samples from hundreds of cattle, sheep and goats, which have been sent to the Chief Chemist Laboratories in Dar es Salaam for testing.
The Minister for Livestock Development, Anthony Diallo, and Health Minister David Mwakyusa toured several villages in Arusha region on Wednesday to assess the preventative measures being taken.
Besides banning the movement of cattle and other livestock between Kenya and Tanzania, Diallo also ordered government authorities across the country to restrict the internal movement of livestock.
"Nobody is allowed to move livestock from one district to another unless he obtains express permission from the relevant authorities," he said.
Mwakyusa said medical supplies had already been sent to Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Manyara, Morogoro and Tanga regions.
Meanwhile, many people continue to avoid buying meat and its products for fear of contracting the disease.
"I am terribly scared," Didas Muyolo, a schoolteacher in Dar es Salaam, said. "If it comes here, it will kill many people."
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) -
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