Rift Valley fever
noun
: an acute, usually epizootic, mosquito-borne disease of domestic animals chiefly of eastern and southern Africa that is caused by a bunyavirus (species Rift Valley fever phlebovirus of the genus Phlebovirus), is marked especially by fever, abortion, and death of newborns, and is sometimes transmitted to humans usually in a milder form marked by flu-like symptoms
Examples of Rift Valley fever in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
That list also includes Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever; the Ebola and Marburg viruses; Lassa fever; coronaviruses SARS, MERS, and COVID-19; henipaviruses, and Rift Valley fever.
—
Erin Prater, Fortune Well, 26 Apr. 2023
Mosquitoes carry many threatening diseases, like chikungunya, dengue, lymphatic filariasis, Rift Valley fever, Yellow fever, Zika, malaria, Japanese encephalitis and West Nile fever, WHO reports.
—Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 2 Feb. 2023
Ebola and rabies, anthrax and smallpox, Rift Valley fever and monkeypox.
—Helen Branswell, STAT, 21 Sep. 2022
Rounding out the disease list are: Chikungunya virus, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, Dengue, Malaria, Marburg virus disease, Lassa fever, MERS, Rift Valley fever, Thrombocytopenia syndrome and Tuberculosis.
—Alex Knapp, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2022
In 2000, Saudi Arabia banned livestock export from Somalia because of the outbreak of Rift Valley fever.
—Abdullahi Yussuf, Quartz Africa, 28 July 2020
The goal of this five-year, multidisciplinary project is to examine, for the first time, exactly how climate affects Rift Valley fever in southern Africa.
—Lois Parshley, Scientific American, 1 May 2018
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Erin Prater, Fortune Well, 26 Apr. 2023
Mosquitoes carry many threatening diseases, like chikungunya, dengue, lymphatic filariasis, Rift Valley fever, Yellow fever, Zika, malaria, Japanese encephalitis and West Nile fever, WHO reports.
—Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 2 Feb. 2023
Ebola and rabies, anthrax and smallpox, Rift Valley fever and monkeypox.
—Helen Branswell, STAT, 21 Sep. 2022
Rounding out the disease list are: Chikungunya virus, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, Dengue, Malaria, Marburg virus disease, Lassa fever, MERS, Rift Valley fever, Thrombocytopenia syndrome and Tuberculosis.
—Alex Knapp, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2022
In 2000, Saudi Arabia banned livestock export from Somalia because of the outbreak of Rift Valley fever.
—Abdullahi Yussuf, Quartz Africa, 28 July 2020
The goal of this five-year, multidisciplinary project is to examine, for the first time, exactly how climate affects Rift Valley fever in southern Africa.
—Lois Parshley, Scientific American, 1 May 2018
Cite this Entry
“Rift Valley fever.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Rift%20Valley%20fever. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.
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Rift Valley fever
noun
Rift Val·ley fever
ˈrift-ˌval-ē- 
: an acute usually epizootic mosquito-borne disease of domestic animals (as sheep and cattle) chiefly of eastern and southern Africa that is caused by a bunyavirus of the genus Phlebovirus (species Rift Valley fever phlebovirus), is marked especially by fever, abortion, death of newborns, diarrhea, and jaundice, and is sometimes transmitted to humans usually in a milder form marked by flu-like symptoms
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