Abstract
Introduction: Rabies is a vaccine-preventable viral zoonotic disease that remains a serious global public health concern. Rabies vaccination with adequate coverage of the canine population has been shown to control rabies outbreaks among canines and to prevent the transmission of rabies from dogs to humans. As vaccination is the primary control measure for rabies, it is important to determine the level of anti-rabies antibodies in animals in order to determine the effectiveness of the control measures being implemented. Materials & Methods: Blood samples were collected from 50 street dogs (August 2016 to December 2016) in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur districts. Rabies sero-conversion on the separated serum was quantified using PlateliaTM Rabies II Kit (Bio-Rad, China) according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Results: Eighty percent (40/50) of the serum samples surpassed the requested level of rabies antibodies, suggesting good coverage of vaccination among street dogs. Conclusion: However, an active dog surveillance system with a dog registration process before and after vaccination campaigns, and a multi-dimensional approach including all stakeholders, are necessary to eradicate rabies from the canine population in Nepal.
Highlights
Rabies is a vaccine-preventable viral zoonotic disease that remains a serious global public health concern
A total of 50 serum samples from street dogs were screened for virus-neutralizing antibodies, 40 (80%) samples overcame the requested level of seroconversion (≥ 0.5 IU/ml) and 10 (20%) samples were under the range (< 0.5 Equivalent Units per ml (EU/ml)) according to PLATELIATM RABIES II test
We found a higher anti-rabies antibody prevalence in street dogs in three districts of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, than in Japan, where one study showed that only 27.7% of dogs had protective immune status [13], or in Chandigarh, India where only 1% of the street dogs had a protective level of anti-rabies antibodies [14]
Summary
Rabies is a vaccine-preventable viral zoonotic disease that remains a serious global public health concern. Rabies is a vaccine-preventable zoonosis caused by the virus, genus Lyssavirus family Rhabdoviridae [1]. It is one of the most feared zoonotic diseases worldwide. It remains a serious global public health concern, more than 95% of the world’s fatal cases of rabies occur in Africa and Asia [2]. Canine rabies is the most common means of transmission of rabies to the human population [3]. Rabies is a high priority, endemic, zoonotic disease in Nepal [6] It occurs in two epidemiological cycles: The urban
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