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. 2015 Dec 22;9(12):e0004314.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004314. eCollection 2015 Dec.

The Risk of Nosocomial Transmission of Rift Valley Fever

Nasser A Al-Hamdan  1 , Anil A Panackal  2 , Tami H Al Bassam  3 , Abdullah Alrabea  4 , Mohammed Al Hazmi  5 , Yagoub Al Mazroa  6 , Mohammed Al Jefri  7 , Ali S Khan  8 , Thomas G Ksiazek  9
Affiliations

The Risk of Nosocomial Transmission of Rift Valley Fever

Nasser A Al-Hamdan et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. .

Abstract

In 2000, we investigated the Rift Valley fever (RVF) outbreak on the Arabian Peninsula-the first outside Africa-and the risk of nosocomial transmission. In a cross-sectional design, during the peak of the epidemic at its epicenter, we found four (0.6%) of 703 healthcare workers (HCWs) IgM seropositive but all with only community-associated exposures. Standard precautions are sufficient for HCWs exposed to known RVF patients, in contrast to other viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHF) such as Ebola virus disease (EVD) in which the route of transmission differs. Suspected VHF in which the etiology is uncertain should be initially managed with the most cautious infection control measures.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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