Mosquito-borne diseases, including arbovirus-related diseases, make up a large proportion of infectious disease cases worldwide, causing a serious global public health burden with over 700,000 deaths annually. Mosquito-borne arbovirus outbreaks can range from global to regional. In the East African Community (EAC) region, these viruses have caused a series of emerging and reemerging infectious disease outbreaks. Member states in the EAC share a lot in common including regional trade and transport, some of the factors highlighted to be the cause of mosquito-borne arbovirus disease outbreaks worldwide. In this review, characteristics of 24 mosquito-borne arboviruses indigenous to the EAC are reviewed, including lesser or poorly understood viruses, like Batai virus (BATV) and Ndumu virus (NDUV), which may escape their origins under perfect conditions to establish a foothold in new geographical locations. Factors that may influence the future spread of these viruses within the EAC are addressed. With the continued development observed in the EAC, strategies should be developed by the Community in improving mosquito and mosquito-borne arbovirus surveillance to prevent future outbreaks.

A retrospective study was undertaken to examine domestic ruminant sera for Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus antibodies. The sera were collected between 1992 and 1995 from cattle, sheep and goats from various locations in Saudi Arabia. The standard capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay system was employed to detect specific RVF antibodies in the animals and the results indicated an absence of RVF antibodies. This finding confirms the assumption that Saudi Arabia was free from RVF up until at least 1995 and most probably before the 2000 epidemic. The finding also confirms that RVF was not endemic in Saudi Arabia.

Potato soft rot and wilt are economically problematic diseases due to the lack of effective bactericides. Bacteriophages have been studied as a novel and environment-friendly alternative to control plant diseases. However, few experiments have been conducted to study the changes in plants and soil microbiomes after bacteriophage therapy. In this study, rhizosphere microbiomes were examined after potatoes were separately infected with three bacteria (Ralstonia solanacearum, Pectobacterium carotovorum, Pectobacterium atrosepticum) and subsequently treated with a single phage or a phage cocktail consisting of three phages each. Results showed that using the phage cocktails had better efficacy in reducing the disease incidence and disease symptoms’ levels when compared to the application of a single phage under greenhouse conditions. At the same time, the rhizosphere microbiota in the soil was affected by the changes in micro-organisms’ richness and counts. In conclusion, the explicit phage mixers have the potential to control plant pathogenic bacteria and cause changes in the rhizosphere bacteria, but not affect the beneficial rhizosphere microbes.