An outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in two South African provinces has killed one person, while five others have tested positive for the disease, which has also caused "extensive livestock deaths", the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), said in a statement on 9 March.
As of 4 March 2010, the livestock disease - which can be transmitted to humans by handling infected animal tissue during butchering - had been reported on 14 farms in Free State and one farm in the neighbouring province of Northern Cape.
