Rift Valley Fever Facts Rift Valley Fever Rift Valley fever is a fever-causing viral disease that affects livestock and humans in Africa. It is most common during years of heavy rainfall.
People get Rift Valley fever mainly from the bite of an infected mosquito.
The disease can also be spread by contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected animal. Travelers should also avoid contact with livestock in areas where outbreaks of Rift Valley fever are occurring. It is named after a trough stretching 4,000 miles from Jordan through eastern Africa to Mozambique. Rift Valley fever is spread mainly by infected mosquitoes and appears most often during years of heavy rainfall. Rift Valley fever is most common in the livestock-raising regions of eastern and southern Africa.