Chinese health officials have already reported 11 imported cases of the mosquito borne viral disease, yellow fever, in people working overseas in Angola, now health officials have reported the first case of another disease that can be transmitted by mosquitoes, Rift Valley Fever (RVF), according to a CRI Online report (computer translated).

Image/dinky123uk
Image/dinky123uk

The case, the first of its kind reported in China, is reported in a 45-year-old man from Henan province in Central China’s Yellow River Valley who returned from Angola. He presented with fever, headache, joint and muscle pain last week.

On July 21, he returned to Beijing and was hospitalized in quarantine and began treatment. He was diagnosed positive for RVF virus yesterday. He is currently in critical condition.

Rift Valley Fever is mosquito-borne virus that is endemic in parts of Africa including South Africa. It primarily infects animals like sheep, cattle and goats and it can have an economic impact on a community due to the loss of livestock.

Humans get infected through contact with infected animal blood or organs. Butchering and slaughtering of animals is a primary cause of transmission to humans. Certain occupations are at a higher risk of getting Rift Valley Fever like farmers, herders and veterinarians.

It can also be transmitted to humans through mosquito bites and the bites of blood-sucking flies.

Most cases of RVF are mild and symptoms include fever, headaches and muscle pain. However, a small percentage of people can get serious disease which includes retinitis, encephalitis and a hemorrhagic fever. Fatalities happen in less than 1 percent of those infected.

Related: