Seroprevalence of Rift Valley fever in cattle of smallholder farmers in Kwilu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a zoonotic mosquito-borne disease caused by RVF virus (RVFV) that causes abortions and high mortalities in livestock and is also associated with acute and fatal disease in humans. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), information on the epidemiology of RVF is limited, particularly among cattle reared by smallholder farmers. This cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the seroprevalence of RVF in cattle raised by smallholder farmers in Kwilu Province of DRC, which has not yet reported an RVF epidemic. A total of 677 cattle sera were collected from four territories and tested for anti-RVFV antibodies using immunofluorescent assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The overall seroprevalence of anti-RVFV IgG was 6.5% (44/677) (95% CI 4.81–8.7). There was a statistically significant difference in the seroprevalence among the territories ( χ 2 = 28.79, p