College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences

Global disease experts are joining forces to strengthen our scientific understanding of the potentially deadly Rift Valley fever virus and its impact across Africa.

As part of this research effort, an interdisciplinary team from the University of Glasgow, including mathematical modelers, infectious disease experts, animal health specialists and social scientists, are working in an international consortium, led by the Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute in Tanzania, to study Rift Valley fever in Tanzania, South Africa and The Gambia.

The consortium, known as Rift Valley Fever Epidemiology and Modelling to Inform Vaccine Efficacy Trials (REMIT), will receive up to $3.4m of funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

 

Rift Valley fever is a mosquito-borne illness that can affect both livestock and people. It was first identified in East Africa’s Rift Valley in 1930 and has continued to cause major outbreaks both in the region and further afield, affecting people’s health, food security and livelihoods.

Despite being recognised as a priority disease in need of urgent research by both the World Health Organization and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the burden of Rift Valley fever is poorly characterised, and transmission of the disease between outbreaks is not well understood. However, while the disease has the potential for epidemic spread, no human vaccines are currently available to protect people during outbreaks.

As climate change persists, expanding the range of mosquitoes and increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events such as flooding, there is a risk that Rift Valley fever outbreaks will become more frequent and widespread, making a protective human vaccine all the more urgent. This new investment may help to advance several possible vaccines supported by CEPI and others that are now in early and mid-phase development for human use.

The work of REMIT will build on substantial earlier research of the University of Glasgow team on Rift Valley fever in Tanzania, as well as through partnerships established with teams working in South Africa and The Gambia. The project will take a ‘One Health’ approach, incorporating data on livestock infection and mosquito ecology to understand how the virus spreads in the environment and its potential spillover to people.

The team aims to identify those most at risk of disease and consider factors such as livestock movements and extreme weather events that are thought to be expanding the range of the disease and frequency of outbreaks. The research will also investigate whether and how ‘signal’ events, such as cases of livestock abortion (which can be caused by Rift Valley fever), could be used to trigger human vaccination.

Sarah Cleaveland, Professor in Comparative Epidemiology from the School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, said: “We are very pleased to be part of this consortium, working under the leadership of the Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute and with other collaborators working on One Health in Tanzania.

“The project is testimony to the value of the long-term partnerships and inter-disciplinary collaborations, which has allowed us to rapidly and effectively set up this ambitious project to address priority questions around Rift Valley fever. It feels great to be part of this international effort to prevent and control an important human and animal disease problem”.

Dr Kent Kester, Executive Director of Vaccine Research & Development at CEPI, said: “This groundbreaking research will shed new light on a disease that has been neglected for far too long. The learnings will tell us whether large-scale efficacy trials are feasible where they should take place, and how long they are expected to take. And if the research finds that cases of Rift Valley fever in the region are too infrequent or sporadic to conduct an efficacy trial we’ll know we need to focus on an alternative pathway to licensing a human Rift Valley fever vaccine.”

Professor Blandina Mmbaga, Director of Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute, working as Principal Investigator of the REMIT project, said: “We are very excited to lead this international consortium that brings together expertise from human and animal health, vector biology and social sciences, and builds on preliminary work that we have carried out on the epidemiology and modelling of Rift Valley fever in eastern, southern and west Africa. The project will not only generate important information for the design of future human vaccine trials but will also help us understand how best to integrate human vaccination with other measures for effective control of the disease.”

Consortium members of REMIT project include, in addition to the University of Glasgow, the University of Otago, New Zealand; Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency, Tanzania; University of Pretoria, South Africa; National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa; MRC The Gambia, The Gambia; One Health Research Consulting, USA; Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania; Washington State University; and Global Health Tanzania.

The REMIT project will be supported by the Director for Preventive Services (DPS) within the Ministry of Health and the Director for Veterinary Services (DVS) within the Ministry of Livestock within the Government of Tanzania. The expected results will contribute to the Tanzanian Government’s effort towards Rift Valley fever and other priority disease eradication in the country.

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Enquiries: ali.howard@glasgow.ac.uk or elizabeth.mcmeekin@glasgow.ac.uk

First published: 21 August 2025