More than 75 people have died in Kenya of a hemorrhagic fever called Rift Valley Fever over the past three weeks and another 183 are infected with it. The diseases’ victims are residents of either the Northeastern or Coast Province, which received uncharacteristically heavy rain in December that caused flooding and created a large breading ground for mosquitoes, which spread the fever’s virus from livestock to humans.
The death toll could be higher because the figures are only of adult victims as people in Northeastern Province rarely record the deaths of their children, said Dr. Ahmed Omar Ahmed, the province’s chief medical officer. This latest outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in Kenya saw its first victim die in mid-December.
Rift Valley Fever is also known as Kenya fever – A toxic generalized febrile virus disease of humans and animals in South and East Africa, transmitted by a mosquito, and characterized by headache, photophobia, myalgia, and anorexia.