Rift Valley Fever in Kedougou, Southeastern Senegal, 2012

cal distribution and epidemiological features of Old World cutaneous leish-maniasis foci, based on the isoenzyme analysis of 1048 strains. The first isoenzy-matic characterizations of the Leishmania strains responsible for cutaneous leishmani-asis in the area of Annaba (Eastern Algeria) a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay for Leish-mania major/Leishmania killicki/Leishma-nia infantum discrimination from clinical samples, application in a Tunisian focus. Pérignon A, Foulet F, et al. Travelers with cutaneous leishmaniasis cured without sys-temic therapy. To the Editor: Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an acute, febrile, viral disease caused by Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), a phlebovirus of the family Bunyaviridae that is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. RVF mortality and abortion rates among young domesticated ruminants and pregnant females are high. In humans, clinical manifestations range from mild to severe syndromes , which can include neurologic, hemorrhagic, and hepatic features and retinitis, and which sometimes result in death (1). Diagnosis of RVF is challenging for clinicians because clinical manifestations are not specific (2). Heavy rainfall and flooding create conditions for emergence of RVF vectors (Aedes and Culex spp. mosquitoes), and dispersion of this disease into new areas is linked to migration of infected livestock, wildlife, or mosquitoes. Since 1987, when the Diama dam was built, RVF outbreaks in Maurita-nia have been reported regularly (3). In Kedougou, southeastern Senegal, RVFV was isolated 4 times from Ae. dalzieli mosquitoes and once from a person with a mild case of RVF (4). We report results of a field investigation and laboratory findings for a human case of RVF detected by surveillance of acute febrile illnesses in Kedougou. On October 16, 2012, a 27-year-old man (school teacher) who lived and worked in Baya village in the Kedou-gou region of Senegal (12°27′50″N, 12°28′6″W) visited the Kedougou military health post because of high fever, chills, headache, back pain, myalgia, and arthralgia that started on October 14. He reported regular contact with domesticated animals (cows, sheep, and goats) during farming. A thick blood smear for the patient showed a positive result for malaria, and specific treatment was given. As part of surveillance for acute febrile illnesses, blood samples from the patient were tested for IgM against RVF, chikungunya, dengue, West Nile, yellow fever, Zika, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever viruses; and for viral RNA and virus (5,6). All test results for IgM against the 7 viruses were negative RVFV was isolated from newborn mice that were intracerebrally inocu-lated with …