Abstract
Sylvatic rabies has been eradicated from most of Central Europe, but cases still occur in the Balkans. Oral rabies vaccination of foxes is an effective method for controlling the disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the success of aerial vaccination campaigns conducted in Montenegro by identifying ecological, environmental and climatic factors that influenced the prevalence of antibodies to the rabies vaccine. To monitor the bait uptake and the serological responses to vaccination, foxes were shot by hunters. Of 175 shot foxes, 142 foxes (81.1%) had consumed baits. Of these only a total of 81 (57.0%) tested positive for rabies vaccine antibodies, possibly, due to the delayed uptake of bait in which the rabies vaccine was already inactivated. We found that low vaccination responses were associated with high fox density and bait delivery in open areas. In high fox density habitat, bait uptake might be delayed as other food and prey options for foxes are abundant. Similarly, delayed bait uptake probably occurred in open areas as such areas are less frequently used by foxes. The findings of this study suggest that efficacy of oral rabies vaccination by aerial delivery is associated with landscape features.
Highlights
Oral rabies vaccination of foxes is known to be an effective method for controlling rabies in this species[1]
Previous research highlighted that the success of oral rabies vaccination programs depended on bait delivery methods, the proportion of land area affected by rabies as well as the size and overlap of successive vaccinations[8,9]
A total of 81 of the 142 bait-consuming foxes (57.0%, 95% CI: 49, 65) tested positive for rabies vaccine antibodies over the observation period of two years
Summary
Oral rabies vaccination of foxes is known to be an effective method for controlling rabies in this species[1]. The EU funded the first two oral vaccination campaigns using aerial baiting of foxes in autumn 2011 and spring 2012 while later campaigns were conducted by the Montenegrin government. Previous research highlighted that the success of oral rabies vaccination programs depended on bait delivery methods, the proportion of land area affected by rabies as well as the size and overlap of successive vaccinations[8,9]. The holistic identification of the impact of environmental, climatic, wildlife density and vaccination campaign-associated (e.g. bait density) risk factors on rabies vaccination prevalence could help policy makers to implement specific actions to improve the efficacy of rabies control programs. In this study we aimed to identify ecological, environmental and climatic factors that influenced rabies vaccination antibody prevalence, quantify the role of risk factors in the spatial variation of rabies vaccination antibody prevalence and generate a predictive map of the prevalence of antibodies to rabies vaccination
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