Abstract
IntroductionIn the continental US, four terrestrial mammalian species are reservoirs for seven antigenic rabies virus variants. Cross species transmission (CST) occurs when a rabies virus variant causes disease in non-reservoir species.MethodsThis study analyzed national surveillance data for rabies in terrestrial mammals. The CST rate was defined as: number of rabid non-reservoir animals/number of rabid reservoir animals. CST rates were analyzed for trend. Clusters of high CST rate counties were evaluated using space-time scanning statistics.ResultsThe number of counties reporting a raccoon variant CST rate >1.0 increased from 75 in 1992 to 187 in 2011; counties with skunk variant CST rates >1.0 remained unchanged during the same period. As of 2011, for every rabid raccoon reported within the raccoon variant region, there were 0.73 cases of this variant reported in non-reservoir animals. Skunks were the most common non-reservoir animal reported with the raccoon rabies variant. Domestic animals were the most common non-reservoir animal diagnosed with a skunk rabies virus variant (n = 1,601). Cross species transmission rates increased fastest among domestic animals.ConclusionsCross species transmission of rabies virus variants into non-reservoir animals increases the risk of human exposures and threatens current advances toward rabies control. Cross species transmission in raccoon rabies enzootic regions increased dramatically during the study period. Pet owners should vaccinate their dogs and cats to ensure against CST, particularly in regions with active foci of rabies circulation. Clusters of high CST activity represent areas for further study to better understand interspecies disease transmission dynamics. Each CST event has the potential to result in a rabies virus adapted for sustained transmission in a new species; therefore further understanding of the dynamics of CST may help in early detection or prevention of the emergence of new terrestrial rabies virus variants.
Highlights
In the continental US, four terrestrial mammalian species are reservoirs for seven antigenic rabies virus variants
Rabies was responsible for hundreds of human deaths each year in the US, prior to the development of laws promoting responsible pet ownership, canine rabies vaccination campaigns, and increasing availability of effective rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) [2]
In stark comparison to the rabies epidemiology prior to 1970, over 90% of rabies cases are reported from wildlife species and over 60% of these cases are reported from states that have enzootic circulation of the raccoon rabies virus variant [3,4]
Summary
In the continental US, four terrestrial mammalian species are reservoirs for seven antigenic rabies virus variants. In stark comparison to the rabies epidemiology prior to 1970, over 90% of rabies cases are reported from wildlife species and over 60% of these cases are reported from states that have enzootic circulation of the raccoon rabies virus variant [3,4]. As evidence from this epizootic event, the introduction of novel rabies virus variants into naıve populations can have longstanding consequences on wildlife populations and human disease prevention. Despite poor reporting of animal bites, an estimated 35,000 persons (11/100,000 persons) still receive PEP each year due to potential rabies virus exposures [2,10,11]
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