Abstract
The emergence of human and animal rabies in Bali since November 2008 has attracted local, national and international interest. The potential origin and time of introduction of rabies virus to Bali is described. The nucleoprotein (N) gene of rabies virus from dog brain and human clinical specimens was sequenced using an automated DNA sequencer. Phylogenetic inference with Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis using the Bayesian Evolutionary Analysis by Sampling Trees (BEAST) v. 1.7.5 software confirmed that the outbreak of rabies in Bali was caused by an Indonesian lineage virus following a single introduction. The ancestor of Bali viruses was the descendant of a virus from Kalimantan. Contact tracing showed that the event most likely occurred in early 2008. The introduction of rabies into a large unvaccinated dog population in Bali clearly demonstrates the risk of disease transmission for government agencies and should lead to an increased preparedness and efforts for sustained risk reduction to prevent such events from occurring in future.
Highlights
A fragment of the nucleoprotein gene of rabies virus (RABV) obtained from five dogs and six human clinical samples was sequenced
The cDNA sequences obtained in this study have been submitted to GenBank
The results show that the ancestor of Bali viruses was the descendant of Kalimantan 00-18 strain
Summary
The source of clinical samples for this study were dog brains that were confirmed as rabies positive using the FAT test. Ethical clearance for the use of human samples was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, reference number 723/Skrt/XI/2010 dated 12 November 2010 [10], and was consistent with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Dog brain samples were obtained from the collection of The Animal Biomedical and Molecular Biology Laboratory Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Udayana University. Approval for the use of animal samples was granted by The Ethics Commission for the Use of Animals in Research and Education of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Udayana University, Bali Indonesia, reference number 04/KE-PH/IV/2010, in accordance with chapter 7.8. Approval for the use of animal samples was granted by The Ethics Commission for the Use of Animals in Research and Education of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Udayana University, Bali Indonesia, reference number 04/KE-PH/IV/2010, in accordance with chapter 7.8. of the Use of Animals in Research and Education of Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organization for Animal Health
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
