The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned travellers to Kenya and Somalia to take special precautions due to an outbreak of the deadly Rift Valley fever.

In its statement, the agency did not recommend travel restrictions, but advised travellers to take precautions against mosquitos which transmit the virus.

Wearing long sleeves and trousers, using mosquito repellant and bednets are among the precautions recommended by the WHO.

The agency has sent a team of experts to Kenya to combat the outbreak of the fever. According to the WHO, the disease has killed 300 people in Kenya and claimed another 300 lives in Somalia.

Rift Valley Fever, a haemorrhagic disease, is spread from livestock to humans by mosquitos or by contact with infected animals

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Heavy flooding in parts of Kenya has brought people into closer contact than usual with animals over the past two weeks, the WHO says.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said there was a high risk the disease could spread to other countries in the region, such as Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania.

The organisation says the only effective means of protecting livestock was through preventative immunisation.

Once an epidemic has taken hold, vaccination usually fails to prevent substantial livestock losses. There is no vaccine for humans.

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