Volume 12, Number 3, March 2006

Rift Valley Fever Potential, Arabian Peninsula

Assaf Anyamba,* Jean-Paul Chretien,† Pierre B.H. Formenty,‡ Jennifer Small,* Compton J. Tucker,* Joseph L. Malone,† Hassan El Bushra,§ Vincent Martin,¶ and Kenneth J. Linthicum#
*NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA; †Department of Defense Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA; ‡World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland; §World Health Organization, Cairo, Egypt; ¶Food and Agricultural Organization, Rome, Italy; and #United States Department of Agriculture, Gainesville, Florida, USA

Appendix Figure. Systeme Probatoire pour l'Observation de la Terre vegetation sensor 1 km normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) anomaly images of the Arabian Peninsula region during June 2000 (A) and June 2005 (B). Data are the percentage deviation from the long-term mean calculated for the period January 1999–June 2005 in NDVI units. A value of zero indicates that current values are identical to the 1998–2005 mean. Rift Valley fever virus was isolated in the Al Qunfuda, Asir, and Jazir areas in Saudi Arabia and in Wadi Mawr in Yemen between August and September 2000 (panel A). Positive anomalies in June 2005 are of higher magnitude than in June 2000. Satellite rainfall estimates were blended with rain-gauge data where available for April 2000 (C) and April 2005 (D). More widespread rainfall occurred in April 2005 compared with April 2000, which suggests prime conditions for vector breeding and prevalence in 2005.

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This page last reviewed February 14, 2006

Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal
National Center for Infectious Diseases
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