Case Study: Jace M.

Jace M. is a patient that has been infected by Rift Valley fever. He is an African man born September 19, 1983 (28) in Kenya. He lives with his wife, Corinne, 26, and their son, Kaelin, 2. Jace M. is a farmer on the Northern Cape province in Africa. He handles his livestock everyday while also caring for his family. What put him at risk for Rift Valley fever were the animals. A person can only contract Rift Valley fever, or, RVF, by dealing with infected animals. 

For several days, Jace M. had noticed an odd change in his animals on the farm. The animals that were pregnant were having their fetuses aborted. A lot even died themselves, pregnant or not. He was assisting with the birth of one of his cows when he caught the disease. He thought it would be the first animal to finally have a successful birth. When the fetus of the cow was shown dead, Jace M. sadly disposed of it. Handling the animal is what gave him the disease. 

Luckily, there are no people that Jace M. could possibly infect. RVF is a disease that is only spread from animal to animal or animal to human, not human to human. However, the animal that he contracted the disease from could be spreading it to more of his livestock, putting his family at risk. 

What made Jace M. seek medical health were the symptoms he had. He had an illness with a fever, headache, myalgia, and liver abnormalities. These are the common symptoms of Rift Valley fever. Unlike the common case of RVF, though, his illness progressed to eyesight troubles. He had been experiencing these feelings for five days before going to see a doctor. 

The doctor diagnosed him with Rift Valley fever, but there was nothing else he could do about it. There have only been vaccines for animals made. Jace M. agreed to give his animals multiple inoculations as to not further spread the disease through his livestock and to people visiting his farm. There is no cure for Rift Valley fever for humans. Only 1% of the cases die. This didn’t matter to Jace M. Though his mild symptoms were subsiding, his eyes were getting even worse. He had ocular disease, which consists in the unlucky 1% of patients with RVF. 

Jace M. eventually cured of the disease after a week. Both he and his livestock were now fully healed of Rift Valley fever. Even though he was rid of the virus, he developed inflammation of the retina, causing him to become permanently blind. He couldn’t adapt well to being blind. He had to quit being a farmer, not being able to handle animals and sharp objects. He had to rely on his wife working and he instead stayed home with their son, who Jace M. wanted to grow up to be a proud farmer like his father once was.