Serological evidence of Rift Valley fever in domestic ruminants in Tunisia underlines the need for effective surveillance.

BACKGROUND

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an infectious zoonotic disease infecting, mainly, domestic ruminants and causing significant economic and public health problems. RVF is a vector-borne disease transmitted by mosquitoes.

AIM: In this work, we tried to seek any RVF virus circulation in Tunisia.

METHODS

Thus, we investigated 1,723 sera from different parts of Tunisia, collected in 2009 and 2013-2015 from sheep, goats, cattle, and dromedaries. All sera were assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay techniques.

RESULTS

Eighty-seven sera were detected positive and 11 doubtful. All of them were investigated by the virus-neutralization technique (VNT), which confirmed the positivity of three sera.

CONCLUSION

This is the first case of RVF seropositive confirmed by the VNT in Tunisian ruminants. Such a result was expected considering the climate, entomology, and geographic location of the country. Further investigations must enhance our findings to understand the RVF epidemiologic situation better and implement risk-based surveillance programs and effective control strategies.