Rift Valley fever epidemiology: shifting the paradigm and rethinking research priorities

Melinda K Rostal¹, Peter N Thompson², Assaf Anyamba³, Bernard Bett⁴, Catherine Cêtre-Sossah⁵, Véronique Chevalier⁶, Milehna Guarido², William B Karesh⁷, Alan Kemp⁸, A Desiree LaBeaud⁹, Alison Lubisi¹⁰, Louise Matthews¹¹, Veerle Msimang⁸, M Kariuki Njenga¹², Noam Ross¹³, Dan Tumusiime¹⁴, William C Wilson¹⁵, Jacqueline Weyer¹⁶, Janusz T Paweska¹⁷, Robert Swanepoel¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ One Health Research Consulting, Glen Rock, NJ, USA; Department of Production Animal Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa. Electronic address: rostal@onehealthresearch.net.
² Department of Production Animal Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa.
³ Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA; Earth Sciences Division, Goddard Applied Sciences, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
⁴ International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁵ Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) Animaux, Santé, Territoires, Risques et Ecosystèmes (ASTRE), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (INRAE), Université de Montpellier, Campus International de Baillarguet, Montpellier, France.
⁶ Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) Animaux, Santé, Territoires, Risques et Ecosystèmes (ASTRE), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (INRAE), Université de Montpellier, Campus International de Baillarguet, Montpellier, France; ASTRE, CIRAD, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
⁷ One Health Concepts, Easton, CT, USA.
⁸ Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases, The National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Sandringham, South Africa.
⁹ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort, South Africa.
¹¹ School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
¹² Paul G Allen School for Global Health, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.
¹³ rOpenSci, Austin, TX, USA.
¹⁴ Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Entebbe, Uganda; Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁵ Foreign Arthropod Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit (FABADRU), National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, Manhattan, KS, USA.
¹⁶ Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases, The National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Sandringham, South Africa; Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Gezina, South Africa.
¹⁷ Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases, The National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Sandringham, South Africa; Department of Virology, School of Pathology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
¹⁸ Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa.

PMID: 40921175
DOI: 10.1016/j.lanplh.2025.101299

Free article

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Rift Valley fever epidemiology: shifting the paradigm and rethinking research priorities

Melinda K Rostal et al. Lancet Planet Health. 2025 Sep.

Free article

. 2025 Sep;9(9):101299.

doi: 10.1016/j.lanplh.2025.101299. Epub 2025 Sep 5.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ One Health Research Consulting, Glen Rock, NJ, USA; Department of Production Animal Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa. Electronic address: rostal@onehealthresearch.net.
² Department of Production Animal Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa.
³ Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA; Earth Sciences Division, Goddard Applied Sciences, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
⁴ International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁵ Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) Animaux, Santé, Territoires, Risques et Ecosystèmes (ASTRE), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (INRAE), Université de Montpellier, Campus International de Baillarguet, Montpellier, France.
⁶ Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) Animaux, Santé, Territoires, Risques et Ecosystèmes (ASTRE), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (INRAE), Université de Montpellier, Campus International de Baillarguet, Montpellier, France; ASTRE, CIRAD, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
⁷ One Health Concepts, Easton, CT, USA.
⁸ Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases, The National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Sandringham, South Africa.
⁹ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort, South Africa.
¹¹ School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
¹² Paul G Allen School for Global Health, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.
¹³ rOpenSci, Austin, TX, USA.
¹⁴ Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Entebbe, Uganda; Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁵ Foreign Arthropod Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit (FABADRU), National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, Manhattan, KS, USA.
¹⁶ Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases, The National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Sandringham, South Africa; Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Gezina, South Africa.
¹⁷ Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases, The National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Sandringham, South Africa; Department of Virology, School of Pathology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
¹⁸ Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa.

PMID: 40921175
DOI: 10.1016/j.lanplh.2025.101299

Abstract

Rift Valley fever (RVF), a zoonotic mosquito-borne viral disease with erratic occurrence and complex epidemiology, results in substantial costs to veterinary and public health and national economies. Since 1985, RVF virus (RVFV) epidemiology has focused on epidemics triggered by flood-induced emergence of transovarially infected mosquitoes, following an interepidemic period during which RVFV persists primarily in floodwater Aedes spp mosquito eggs, with potential for low-level interepidemic circulation. In this Personal View, we challenge this classic framework of RVFV epidemiology, presenting instead a spectrum of RVFV dynamics ranging from epidemic to hyperendemic. We present the case for RVFV being maintained in a variable reservoir system of livestock, wildlife, and mosquitoes, with or without transovarial transmission. We highlight that sufficient evidence supports a shift in the paradigm of RVF epidemiology to embrace a more nuanced understanding of the spectrum of RVFV dynamics and call for more research into understanding the drivers of RVFV dynamics in hyperendemic areas.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests MKR received travel support from EcoHealth Alliance, received equipment from Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust, received an honorarium from Dalio Center for Health Justice at New York Presbyterian and ICAP Global Health at the Mailman School of Public Health, and was a consultant on a project funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. PNT received support from the Southern African Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine to attend annual meetings in southern Africa in 2023 and 2024 to present on epidemiology of Rift Valley fever; from USDA-Agricultural Research Service to attend a RVF gap analysis workshop, South Africa in May, 2024; from Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to attend CEPI workshop on RVF vaccination, Kenya in June, 2024. All other authors declare no competing interests.

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Rift Valley fever epidemiology: shifting the paradigm and rethinking research priorities

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Rift Valley fever epidemiology: shifting the paradigm and rethinking research priorities

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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