1Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Kinshasa, University Street, P.O. Box 117, Kinshasa XI, Democratic Republic of the Congo
2Central Veterinary Laboratory, Wangata Street, P.O. Box 8842, Gombe, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
3Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, National Pedagogic University, Matadi/Liberation Street, P.O. Box 8815, Ngaliema, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
4National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB), 5345 Huileries Street, P.O. Box 1197, Gombe, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
5International Development Research Centre, Kenya Street, P.O. Box 62084 00200, Nairobi, Kenya
6Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, University Street, P.O. Box 117, Kinshasa XI, Democratic Republic of the Congo
7Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Chuo Kikuu, P.O. Box 3297, Morogoro, Tanzania
Abstract
Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a zoonotic disease that is characterized by periodic and severe outbreaks in humans and animals. Published information on the occurrence of RVF in domestic animals is very scarce in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). To assess possible circulation of Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) in cattle in the eastern province of DRC, 450 sera collected from cattle in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri provinces were analyzed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), for the detection of viral Immunoglobulin (Ig) G and M, and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), for detection of viral RVF RNA. A cumulative anti-RVF IgG prevalence of 6.22% (95% CI 4.25–8.97) was recorded from the three provinces sampled. In North Kivu and Ituri provinces the anti-RVF IgG prevalence was 12.67% [95% CI 7.80–19.07] and 6% [95% CI 2.78–11.08], respectively, while all the sera collected from South Kivu province were negative for anti-RVF IgG antibodies. Anti-RVF IgM prevalence of 1.8% was obtained among sampled animals in the three provinces. None of the positive anti-RVF IgM samples (n=8) was positive for viral RVFV RNA using RT-PCR. Our findings suggest that RVFV is widely distributed among cattle in eastern province of DRC particularly in North Kivu and Ituri provinces although the epidemiological factors supporting this virus circulation remain unknown in these areas.
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