Modeling the Impact of Climate Change on the Dynamics of Rift Valley Fever
A deterministic SEIR model of rift valley fever (RVF) with climate change parameters was considered to compute the basic reproduction numberℛ0and investigate the impact of temperature and precipitation onℛ0. To study the effect of model parameters toℛ0, sensitivity and elasticity analysis ofℛ0were performed. When temperature and precipitation effects are not considered,ℛ0is more sensitive to the expected number of infectedAedesspp. due to one infected livestock and more elastic to the expected number of infected livestock due to one infectedAedesspp. When climatic data are used,ℛ0is found to be more sensitive and elastic to the expected number of infected eggs laid byAedesspp. via transovarial transmission, followed by the expected number of infected livestock due to one infectedAedesspp. and the expected number of infectedAedesspp. due to one infected livestock for both regions Arusha and Dodoma. These results call for attention to parameters regarding incubation period, the adequate contact rate ofAedesspp. and livestock, the infective periods of livestock andAedesspp., and the vertical transmission inAedesspecies.