ABSTRACT
Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an important viral zoonotic disease in Africa with periodic outbreaks associated with severe disease, death, and economic hardship. During the 2006-2007 outbreaks in Eastern Africa, postmortem and necropsy tissue samples from 14 animals and 20 humans clinically suspected of RVF were studied with histopathologic evaluation and immunohistochemical (IHC) assays. Six animal and 11 human samples had IHC evidence of Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) antigens. We found that extensive hepatocellular necrosis without prominent inflammatory cell infiltrates is the most distinctive histopathologic change in liver tissues infected with RVFV. Pathologic studies on postmortem tissue samples can help establish the diagnosis of RVF, differentiating from endemic diseases with clinical manifestations similar to RVF, such as malaria, leptospirosis, or yellow fever.
Subject(s)
Cattle Diseases/pathology , Disease Outbreaks , Goat Diseases/pathology , Rift Valley Fever/pathology , Rift Valley fever virus/pathogenicity , Sheep Diseases/pathology , Africa, Eastern/epidemiology , Animals , Antigens, Viral/analysis , Cattle , Cattle Diseases/diagnosis , Cattle Diseases/epidemiology , Goat Diseases/diagnosis , Goat Diseases/epidemiology , Goats , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , Kidney/pathology , Kidney/virology , Liver/pathology , Liver/virology , Rift Valley Fever/diagnosis , Rift Valley Fever/epidemiology , Rift Valley Fever/veterinary , Rift Valley fever virus/immunology , Sheep , Sheep Diseases/diagnosis , Sheep Diseases/epidemiology , Spleen/pathology , Spleen/virologyABSTRACT
An outbreak of myocarditis occurred among adults in Illinois in 2003. Diagnostic testing of myocardial tissues from 3 patients and comprehensive tests for enterovirus and adenovirus of other specimens from patients were inconclusive. Appropriate specimen collection from patients with idiopathic cardiomyopathy and further enhancement of diagnostic techniques are needed.
