 The
virus can spread from livestock to people
The authorities
in Saudi Arabia say that there have been more than 100 cases of
Rift Valley fever, 24 of them fatal, since the disease first struck
the country last month.
The outbreak of the disease in the Arabian peninsula is the first
time the disease has been known to strike outside of Africa.
Rift Valley
fever affects domestic animals and can be transmitted to humans
by mosquitoes.
The worst
affected region of Saudi Arabia is Jizan in the far south-west
bordering Yemen.
In Yemen itself,
one official said 92 people had died of the disease, though the
health minister said the death toll was only 17.
Import ban
Last month
the Saudi authorities suspended livestock imports from Djibouti,
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen in an attempt to curb
the spread of the disease.
Mosquitos
and other insects spread the disease
 Yemen,
Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates have also announced
a ban on livestock imports from certain African countries.
The Rift Valley
fever virus was first identified in 1930 in Kenya, during an investigation
into an epidemic among sheep on a farm in the Rift Valley.
Since then,
there have been damaging outbreaks in sub-Saharan and North Africa.
In 1997-98,
there was been a major outbreak in Kenya and Somalia, and reports
of disease from Mauritania.
The World
Health Organisation warns that there is a particular danger of
epidemics as mosquitoes and other insects carry the disease into
new areas.
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