Rift Valley Fever (RVF) is a viral zoonotic disease and has been a CEPI priority since 2019. Find out more about RVF and CEPI's R&D efforts in this disease area here: Rift Valley Fever on CEPI.net
How is CEPI responding to Rift Valley fever?
Rift Valley fever epidemiology & modelling projects
Global disease experts are joining forces in two major collaborative projects to strengthen scientific understanding of the potentially deadly Rift Valley fever virus and its disease impact across Africa. Led by institutions in Kenya and Tanzania the research will help guide the planning of future clinical trials assessing much-needed human Rift Valley fever vaccine candidates.
The two new epidemiology and computational modelling projects, known as RVF-VETS led by Washington State University - Global Health in Kenya and the REMIT project led by the Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute in Tanzania, are supported by a combined total of up to $9.6 million awarded by CEPI and include partners from The Gambia, New Zealand, South Africa, Uganda, United Kingdom and the United States.
Findings will help forecast the number of expected human Rift Valley fever illnesses in Africa today and in the future. This information is crucial for vaccine development because large-scale clinical trials to assess the efficacy of vaccines are only feasible when the virus is circulating.
CEPI invests in the development of several vaccines. CEPI’s partners, the University of Oxford and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)-Wellcome Trust Research Programme launched the first Phase II trial of an RVF vaccine for humans in Kenya in October 2024.
Rift Valley Fever Epidemiology and Modelling Workshop
The CEPI RVF team recently hosted a workshop in Nairobi, Kenya. This 2-day meeting was attended by 60+ public health and animal health experts, researchers, epidemiologists, modelers, regulators, funders, and decision-makers (from across Africa, the Middle East and Europe) to discuss advances and gaps in epidemiology and modelling specifically relevant to human RVF vaccine development. View the meeting report here: RVF workshop report
Rift Valley Fever Webinar
This Epidemiology and Modelling for Vaccine Development webinar provided an overview of what is known about RVF epidemiology, and where knowledge gaps impede the development of RVF vaccines for human use. During the webinar CEPI announced the launch of a Call for Proposals to address these knowledge gaps.
Resources and Publications
CEPI publications and resources
• Gharpure, Radhika et al. "Meeting report: CEPI workshop on Rift Valley fever epidemiology and modeling to inform human vaccine development, Nairobi, 4–5 June 2024." Vaccine Vol 54 (2025): 126860.
• Gerken, Keli N., et al. "Paving the way for human vaccination against Rift Valley fever virus: A systematic literature review of RVFV epidemiology from 1999 to 2021." PLoS neglected tropical diseases 16.1 (2022): e0009852.
• Petrova, Velislava, et al. "Rift valley fever: diagnostic challenges and investment needs for vaccine development." BMJ Global Health 5.8 (2020): e002694.
