State of RVF spread bad, says Dodoma RC

Many of the Rift Valley Fever patients admitted to hospitals and health centres here are in critical condition, Dodoma Regional Commissioner William Lukuvi has revealed.

By Privatus Lipili, PST, Dodoma

Many of the Rift Valley Fever patients admitted to hospitals and health centres here are in critical condition, Dodoma Regional Commissioner William Lukuvi has revealed.

He made the revelation in remarks on his recent tour of health facilities across the region to assess the magnitude of epidemic, which has claimed a national total of 33 lives.

The RC was addressing a meeting of guesthouse and hotel owners here on Tuesday, amid reports that the deadly viral disease was digging in.

Dodoma is the region worst hit by the RVF outbreak, and Lukuvi appealed to government officials, businesspeople, owners of guest houses and members of the public to step up measures to help prevent the spread of the disease.

We cannot enjoy ourselves while our voters are suffering.

We have to relieve them of the problem, observed the RC, his appeal coming at a time when the National Assembly is ending the first half of its ordinary two-week meeting here.

Giving what he said were the latest figures, Lukuvi said the region has 56 RVF patients admitted to health facilities, adding: �The situation is critical.

Some patients have been confined to hospital beds for months but still show few signs of getting better.

The RC explained that most patients are unconscious, some having been in bed for over two months, noting: �Medical officers and other staff are doing what best they can do to arrest the situation but things remain bad indeed.

Those religious leaders endowed with God�s healing powers should pray for those (RVF) patients who have lost the ability to pray for themselves.�

Meanwhile, Lukuvi used the occasion to order authorities in the region to arrest anyone found eating meat that veterinary experts have not screened and passed as fit for human consumption.

There have been reports of some bars and restaurants here selling roast meat despite a government ban and countrywide public education campaign meant to alert wananchi against such behaviour.

RVF is an acute, fever-causing viral disease that affects both livestock and humans.

It hit parts of northern Tanzania in February after filtering in from Kenya, leading to human and animal deaths and threatening the livelihood of pastoralist communities in both countries.

The Nairobi-based Centre for Disease Control confirmed the presence of RVF in Tanzania on February 1 after testing samples collected by the Livestock Development ministry in Arusha.

Abortions feared to be RVF-induced have been reported among livestock herds in Kilosa, Tarime, Monduli and Simanjiro districts.

Joint response and control measures are overseen and coordinated by the Livestock Development and Health and Social Welfare ministries, local governments and NGOs. However, quarantines and livestock deaths threaten to prevent pastoralists from benefiting from the ongoing rains and the resultant good pasture conditions.

The government is planning to spend an estimated 15bn/- fighting RVF and 1.7bn/- has already been spent on ordering vaccines from abroad, Prime Minister Edward Lowassa and Livestock Development minister Anthony Diallo said recently.

As of March 31 this year, 200,441 head of cattle, 81,945 goats and 37, 773 sheep had showed RVF symptoms around the country.

Reports released a few weeks after the outbreak said 568 head of cattle, 1,063 goats and 434 sheep had died after developing symptoms similar to those of RVF.

Source: Guardian