Advancing Rift Valley Fever Vaccine Preparedness in Africa - "REMIT Project"

The Rift Valley Fever Epidemiology and Modelling to Inform Vaccine Efficacy Trials (REMIT) project is a two-year initiative (June 2025–December 2026) funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). The project seeks to generate and synthesize critical evidence on Rift Valley Fever (RVF) epidemiology to inform the feasibility, design, and location of future human vaccine trials in Africa.

Led by the Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute (KCRI) in Tanzania, REMIT brings together 11 partner institutions from across Africa, Europe, and the Americas—including the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI)—to accelerate vaccine development for one of the region’s major zoonotic threats.

REMIT work packages
As a key partner, Ifakara will contribute to two major components of the project: epidemiological modelling and the synthesis of vaccine trial feasibility and design recommendations.

Work Package 1: Developing and application of RVF epidemiological models 

The main objective of this work package is to predict the locations, drivers, and scale of RVF spillover from animals to humans. As a lead implementer for this component, Ifakara will:
i) Provide Tanzania-specific data and contextual insights
ii) Collaborate on risk factor analyses to inform spillover coefficients
iii) Support interpretation of hotspot models for national relevance
iv) Participate in pan-African model coordination workshops

Work Package 4: Synthesis for vaccine trial feasibility and design recommendations

This work package focuses on synthesizing evidence to guide the design and feasibility of future RVF vaccine trials. Ifakara’s contributions include:
i) Contributing data and insights from Tanzania for simulations
ii) Participating in the evaluation of case definitions and diagnostic strategies
iii) Engaging in synthesis workshops and trial design discussions
iv) Providing operational and contextual recommendations for feasibility

In addition to these, Work Package 2 focuses on targeted data generation in Tanzania, while Work Package 3 involves similar data collection efforts in The Gambia—both designed to strengthen the evidence base for RVF transmission and vaccine trial planning.

Ifakara key team members
The REMIT project team at Ifakara Health Institute is led by Dr. Said Jongo, who serves as the Principal Investigator, alongside Dr. Robert Sumaye, who leads project implementation efforts. Together, they bring expertise in RVF research, public health, and field epidemiology to support the project’s success.

REMIT consortium partners
The REMIT project is implemented by a global consortium of 11 institutions. Tanzanian partners include the Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute (KCRI) as lead institution, Ifakara Health Institute (IHI), Global Animal Health Tanzania (GAHT), and the Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency (TVLA).

Other African collaborators are the Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at LSHTM (MRCG) in The Gambia, the University of Pretoria (UP), and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa.

International partners include the University of Glasgow (UoG) in the UK, the University of Otago (UoO) in New Zealand, Washington State University (WSU) and One Health Research Consulting (OHRC), both based in the USA.

Through this collaborative effort, the REMIT project aims to accelerate the development of effective vaccines against RVF—protecting at-risk communities and strengthening epidemic preparedness across Africa.