 To Dr. Noon, my name is Konongoi Limbaso, a Ph.D. graduate fellow at Pildri under the BMZ project. I will give a presentation on the application of whole genome sequencing in tracking, circulating strains of rich value fever in human populations in Kenya. Human RVF cases continue to occur and are being detected more frequently and over widely geographical areas in Kenya and the East African region as highlighted in the maps below. In Kenya, RVF is listed among the top 5 priority zoonotic diseases and is reportable in both the human and livestock health sector. Worldwide, there is little data on RVF genetic diversity due to the limited number of RVF disease events which mostly occur as outbreaks in 5 to 15 year cycles associated with periods of heavy rainfall. RVF activity has been shown to occur during the epidemic periods in endemic countries including Kenya. There is a general concern that viral evolution which can impact virulence and spread can occur during this period but may come detected due to the limited surveillance in host and vector species. To address this gap, we set out to gather genomic data from a pool of over 1700 archived human samples collected from RVF outbreak events. These samples are collected from 4 broad regions in Kenya between 1997 to 2020 as highlighted in the table above. Virus isolation was performed in cell culture in the Cambridge BSL3. This was followed by RNA extraction, PCR and sequencing of the PCR positive RVF isolates using the Illuna platform at Illuna. To date, we have inoculated over 200 samples, observed CP in 70 as shown on the slide. Of the 70 CP positive samples, 25 were positive for RVF on PCR using the Altona kit. Libraries were prepared for the positive RVF samples and hold genomes recovered from 15 samples collected in 1997, 2007, 2018, 2019 and 2020 from different regions as highlighted in the table below. On analysis preliminary analysis has shown that all the isolates belong to lineage C, clustering with RVF associated with recent outbreaks in Kenya in 2007, Uganda in 2016, 2017 and Sudan in 2010. Analysis is ongoing to detect amino acid substitutions on the two major surface proteins, the G1 and the G2 associated with viral attachment and entry into the cells. In conclusion, all genome sequencing is a critical tool in monitoring RVF strains during and between outbreaks. RVF is a priority genetic disease in Kenya and requires a one health approach in surveillance, detection and evolution to detect potential changes that may have impacts on its virulence and transmission. In conclusion, I want to thank the organizers for the opportunity to present in this conference. Also, I want to thank BMZ for funding this project. I also want to thank Ilra and Camry for availing lab space for this work and last but not least, I thank my colleagues, Juma, Dr. Bette, Dr. Ayola, Professor Rosemary Sang and Dr. Christina for their support and mentorship. Thank you.