KAKAMAS/AUGRABIES, Northern Cape — 14 Nov 2025: The Northern Cape Directorate: Veterinary Services has issued an urgent health alert after laboratory tests confirmed a Rift Valley Fever (RVF) outbreak in sheep in the Kakamas area, specifically around Augrabies.

Why this matters

Officials warn RVF is zoonotic—it can pass from infected animals to people. While many human cases resemble a flu-like illness (fever, muscle and joint pains, headaches), the alert notes that severe complications, including fatal haemorrhagic fever, can occur. Anyone with symptoms after animal exposure should seek medical care immediately.

High-risk activities to avoid

• Handling sick animals

• Assisting with birthing or abortion events

• Handling aborted foetuses and placentas or other animal tissues

• Postmortems or slaughtering infected animals

What farmers and workers must do now

• Vaccinate all sheep, goats and cattle against RVF as a preventative step.

• Always wear full PPE (disposable gloves, face shields/goggles, surgical mask, waterproof apron/overalls) when working with sick/dead animals or birthing material.

• Treat aborted material/placentas as highest risk; dispose of safely by deep burial or incineration as per local regulations.

• Report immediately: any spike in animal abortions, high fevers, or unusual deaths to your State Veterinarian/Animal Health Technician.

• Control mosquitoes aggressively around kraals and water sources—vectors play a key role in RVF spread.

Contacts for reporting and advice

• Upington State Veterinary Office / Animal Health Office:

087 630 0304 / 083 452 9850 / 078 486 9275

• Human health concerns: Report to your nearest medical facility.

Authorities stress that swift vaccination, strict hygiene and PPE can contain spread to animals and protect people working with livestock. Further updates will follow from Veterinary Services as surveillance continues.

Here is some interesting interesting information about RVF: 

• South Africa’s last large RVF epidemic (2010): 242 laboratory-confirmed human cases with 26 deaths; animal outbreaks recorded 13,902 cases and 8,581 deaths, concentrated in the Free State, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape.  

• Lead-up years: SA also recorded 18 human cases in 2008 and 7 in 2009, before the big 2010 wave.  

• Who gets infected & how: Most human infections follow direct contact with blood/organs of infected livestock (slaughtering, veterinary work, handling aborted material); transmission by mosquito bites also occurs. Human-to-human spread has not been documented.

• Disease severity in people: Illness is usually mild, but a small fraction develop severe forms (ocular, meningo-encephalitic or hemorrhagic). Hemorrhagic RVF can have case-fatality up to ~50% among those severe cases.

• Livestock impact: RVF triggers abortion storms and high mortality in young animals (especially lambs and kids), causing heavy herd and economic losses.

• Climate trigger: Outbreaks are strongly linked to above-normal rains/flooding that expand mosquito breeding sites—why alerts often follow wet spells.  

• Recent African context (2025):

• Mauritania reported a national RVF outbreak in 2025 with dozens of human cases and deaths, prompting WHO/partners support.

• Senegal also confirmed RVF activity in livestock and people the same season.

• South African prevention note: Authorities and vets routinely urge pre-season livestock vaccination in risk areas (Northern Cape/Free State/NW interior) as a primary control.  

-The VIP Team 

-The Northern Cape Directorate: Veterinary Services

-WHO

-open knowledge fao 

Advertisement: