Serological evidence of Rift Valley fever in domestic ruminants in Tunisia underlines the need for effective surveillance

Background: Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an infectious zoonotic disease infecting, mainly, domestic ruminants and causing significant economic and public health problems. RVF is a vector-borne disease transmitted by mosquitoes.

Aim: In this work, we tried to seek any RVF virus circulation in Tunisia.

Methods: Thus, we investigated 1,723 sera from different parts of Tunisia, collected in 2009 and 2013-2015 from sheep, goats, cattle, and dromedaries. All sera were assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay techniques.

Results: Eighty-seven sera were detected positive and 11 doubtful. All of them were investigated by the virus-neutralization technique (VNT), which confirmed the positivity of three sera.

Conclusion: This is the first case of RVF seropositive confirmed by the VNT in Tunisian ruminants. Such a result was expected considering the climate, entomology, and geographic location of the country. Further investigations must enhance our findings to understand the RVF epidemiologic situation better and implement risk-based surveillance programs and effective control strategies.