The Presence of Rabies Virus-Neutralizing Antibody in Wild Boars (Sus scrofa), a Non-Target Bait Vaccine Animal in Korea.

Ha-Hyun Kim,Ja-Young Wang,Dong-Jun An,Dong-Kun Yang

doi:10.3390/vetsci7030090

Abstract

Oral vaccination with bait is an effective method to prevent rabies in wildlife, but non-target wild animals may also ingest the bait vaccine. In Korea, the target animal of the rabies bait vaccine is the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides). Bait vaccines have been distributed in Korea for 20 years; although wild raccoon dogs have been tested for antibodies, rabies antibodies have never been investigated in non-target wild animals. Therefore, this study investigated rabies antibody formation in wild boars (Sus scrofa), which is likely the main competitor for the bait vaccine in Korea. In bait areas, 20 of 109 wild boars (18.3%) were seropositive, and 39 of 470 wild boars (8.3%) in non-bait areas were also seropositive. These results provide insights regarding bait uptake or vaccination in non-target wild boars.

Highlights

Vaccines are an important defense and treatment tool in rabies, a deadly zoonosis
Vaccines used in bait for oral vaccination consist of modified live rabies vaccines (e.g., Street Alabama Dufferin (SAD) Bern, SAD B19, SAD P5/88, and Street Alabama Gif (SAG)-2), which are mainly used in Europe [4,5], and recombinant vaccines (V-RG, a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing the rabies glycoprotein, and ONRAB®, a recombinant human adenovirus expressing the rabies glycoprotein) used frequently in the United States of America (USA) and Canada [6,7]
Wild boars were hunted by the Korean Pork Producers Association and the Korean government for nationwide surveillance according to World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) requirements for classical swine fever (CSF)-free countries

Summary

Introduction

Oral vaccine administered using bait is an effective method to prevent rabies in wildlife, such as foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) [1,2,3]. Vaccines used in bait for oral vaccination consist of modified live rabies vaccines (e.g., Street Alabama Dufferin (SAD) Bern, SAD B19, SAD P5/88, and Street Alabama Gif (SAG)-2), which are mainly used in Europe [4,5], and recombinant vaccines (V-RG, a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing the rabies glycoprotein, and ONRAB® , a recombinant human adenovirus expressing the rabies glycoprotein) used frequently in the United States of America (USA) and Canada [6,7]. In Korea, the raccoon dog has been the main reservoir of rabies in wildlife transmitting rabies to domestic animals, such as cattle, dogs, and cats, since 1993 [8].

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