Rift Valley Fever Outbreak,

After a period of heavy rainfall, an outbreak of Rift Valley fever occurred in southern Mauritania during September–November 2012. A total of 41 human cases were confirmed, including 13 deaths, and 12 Rift Valley fever virus strains were isolated. Moudjeria and Temchecket Departments were the most affected areas. Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV; genus Phlebovirus, fam-ily Bunyaviridae) periodically causes outbreaks in humans and livestock (1), mostly in sub-Saharan Africa (2,3). Rift Valley fever (RVF) in humans is characterized by a mild, acute, febrile illness with spontaneous recov-ery, although 1%–2 % of cases may evolve to more severe disease, such as acute hepatitis, encephalitis, retinitis, or a hemorrhagic syndrome (4,5). In Mauritania, RVF out-breaks have been reported repeatedly; the first occurred in 1987 after the building of the Diama dam, which had eco-logic and environmental effects that favored a large-scale outbreak that resulted in 200 human deaths (6). Since then, RVF epizootics/epidemics have been reported in Maurita-nia in 1993, 1998, 2003, and 2010 (7–10). After 2-fold increase of rainfall in Mauritania dur-ing 2012 (annual total 269 mm compared with 137 mm in 2011, as measured at Temchekett station), abortions among pregnant domestic ruminant livestock were reported in the Tagant, Brakna, Trarza, Assaba, and Hodh-El-Gharbi re