Global Disease Experts Unite to Combat Rift Valley Fever

Strategic Insights -

As part of a new international research consortium, scientists from around the world are coming together to better understand the deadly Rift Valley fever virus and its impact on Africa. This effort, led by the Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute in Tanzania, aims to study the virus in Tanzania, South Africa, and The Gambia, with a focus on developing a human vaccine. The research will take a "One Health" approach, incorporating data on livestock infection and mosquito ecology to understand how the virus spreads.

Key Takeaways:

  • The University of Glasgow is part of an international consortium, known as Rift Valley Fever Epidemiology and Modelling to Inform Vaccine Efficacy Trials (REMIT), to study Rift Valley fever in Tanzania, South Africa, and The Gambia.
  • The REMIT project will receive up to $3.4m of funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to advance several possible vaccines supported by CEPI and others that are now in early and mid-phase development for human use.
  • Rift Valley fever is a mosquito-borne illness that can affect both livestock and people, causing major outbreaks in East Africa's Rift Valley and affecting people's health, food security, and livelihoods.
  • The disease has the potential for epidemic spread, but no human vaccines are currently available to protect people during outbreaks.
  • Climate change is expanding the range of mosquitoes and increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events such as flooding, making a protective human vaccine all the more urgent.
  • The REMIT project will take a 'One Health' approach, incorporating data on livestock infection and mosquito ecology to understand how the virus spreads in the environment and its potential spillover to people.
  • The team aims to identify those most at risk of disease and consider factors such as livestock movements and extreme weather events that are thought to be expanding the range of the disease and frequency of outbreaks.
  • The research will also investigate whether and how 'signal' events, such as cases of livestock abortion, could be used to trigger human vaccination.

Statistics:

  • Up to $3.4m of funding will be provided to the REMIT project from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
  • Rift Valley fever was first identified in East Africa's Rift Valley in 1930.
  • The disease has caused major outbreaks in East Africa's Rift Valley and further afield.
  • The World Health Organization and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have recognized Rift Valley fever as a priority disease in need of urgent research.

Sources:

  • University of Glasgow news article (2022)
  • Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) funding announcement
  • World Health Organization and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) reports on Rift Valley fever.