{"id":8855,"date":"2026-11-01T11:05:51","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T11:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/somalia24.com\/en\/?p=8855"},"modified":"2026-11-01T11:06:49","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T11:06:49","slug":"el-nino-driven-rains-raise-rift-valley-fever-risk-in-somalia-fao-and-igad-warn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/somalia24.com\/en\/el-nino-driven-rains-raise-rift-valley-fever-risk-in-somalia-fao-and-igad-warn\/","title":{"rendered":"El Ni\u00f1o-Driven Rains Raise Rift Valley Fever Risk in Somalia, FAO and IGAD Warn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Somalia is facing an increased risk of Rift Valley fever as the country prepares for the Deyr rainy season, with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) warning that El Ni\u00f1o-driven rainfall could create favourable conditions for the spread of the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Somalia is among six countries identified as facing the highest risk of Rift Valley fever transmission in Eastern Africa. The disease affects both livestock and humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The increased risk is linked to heavy rainfall and flooding, which could create favourable breeding conditions for mosquitoes. The accumulation of water could increase mosquito populations and raise the possibility of the virus spreading among livestock and potentially to humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In its October 30 assessment, FAO identified newly favourable conditions for Rift Valley fever transmission in southern Somalia. The agency also forecasts that areas suitable for transmission could expand across Eastern Africa between October 2026 and January 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rainfall outlook adds to these concerns, with southern and central Somalia facing a high probability of receiving more than 400 millimetres of rain during the season. For Somalia, where many households depend on livestock for their income and livelihoods, a potential outbreak could have consequences beyond animal health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FAO has also highlighted similarities between the current El Ni\u00f1o conditions and those experienced in 1997 and 1998, when Eastern Africa recorded one of its largest Rift Valley fever epidemics. However, the comparison does not mean that an outbreak of similar scale is inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response to the increased risk, FAO and IGAD are urging governments to strengthen disease surveillance, prepare vaccines and essential medical supplies, and improve coordination between animal and human health authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regional cooperation has also been identified as important, particularly because livestock movements across national borders can complicate disease monitoring and response efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The warning does not confirm an ongoing Rift Valley fever outbreak in Somalia. Instead, it highlights the increased risk of transmission during the coming rainy months and the need for preparations to protect livestock, public health and communities that depend on animal production.<\/p>\n\n    <div class=\"xs_social_share_widget xs_share_url after_content \t\tmain_content  wslu-style-1 wslu-share-box-shaped wslu-fill-colored wslu-none wslu-share-horizontal wslu-theme-font-no wslu-main_content\">\n\n\t\t\n        <ul>\n\t\t\t        <\/ul>\n    <\/div> \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Somalia is facing an increased risk of Rift Valley fever as the country prepares for the Deyr rainy season, with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) warning that El Ni\u00f1o-driven rainfall could create favourable conditions for the spread of the disease. Somalia is among six countries identified as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"postBodyCss":"","postBodyMargin":[],"postBodyPadding":[],"postBodyBackground":{"backgroundType":"classic","gradient":""},"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gudaha"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/somalia24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/somalia24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/somalia24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somalia24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somalia24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8855"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/somalia24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8857,"href":"https:\/\/somalia24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8855\/revisions\/8857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somalia24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/somalia24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somalia24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somalia24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}