Main Reservoir Of Rabies Research Articles

Dynamics of Rabies Transmission Model in Human and Dog Populations with Time Delay

Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease caused by a virus through bites or saliva of an infected animal. Dogs are the main reservoir of Rabies and are responsible for most Human cases worldwide. In this research, a delay differential equations model for assessing the effects of controls and time delay as an incubation period on the transmission dynamics of Rabies in human and dog populations is formulated and analyzed. Basic properties of the model as par theories of delay differential equations are established, and the model is well-posed mathematically and biologically. Analysis of the model shows that there is a locally and globally asymptotically stable rabies-free equilibrium whenever the epidemiological threshold (the control reproduction number,) is less than unity. Furthermore, the model has a unique endemic equilibrium point when the control reproduction number, exceeds unity. Time delay is found to have an influence on the endemicity of rabies. Treatment and Vaccination of humans and dogs, coupled with an annual crop of puppies, are imposed to curtail the spread of Rabies in the populations. Numerical experiments are conducted to illustrate the theoretical results and control strategies. Delay differential equations, Effective reproduction number, Equilibria, Rabies, Stability

Temporal and spatial distributions of animal and human rabies cases during 2012 and 2018, in Tunisia.

Rabies is one of the most important zoonosis in Tunisia. In the last 6 years, a dramatic increase in the number of cases in animals had raised concern about the transmission dynamics of rabies and the effectiveness of established control measures. For a better understanding of the epidemiological features of rabies in Tunisia, data on animal and human rabies cases and post‐exposure prophylaxis (PEP) protocol, for the period from 2012 to 2018, were analysed to describe the spatial and the temporal distributions of the disease and to guide targeted rabies control measures. Thus, the analysed data have shown that 2,642 animal and 25 human rabies cases were recorded between 2012 and 2018; only few case numbers were reported in wildlife. Time‐related distribution showed that the incidence of dog rabies increases over the period of study, from 24,8/100,000 dog population in 2012 to 35,2/100,000 dog population in 2018. Dog seems to be the main reservoir of rabies as it accounted for more than 59% of the animal confirmed cases and the source for more than 80% of the human confirmed cases. Geographical distribution of animal rabies cases revealed the presence of clusters in the North and the Center of Tunisia; only a little number of animal cases were reported in the South. In contrast, the overall human rabies incidence was 0.03 per 100,000 population, during the period of the study. We have found that the incidence of human rabies increases by 13.6% from 2012 to 2015 and drops steadily by 23.41% over the second period (2015 to 2018). A high number of PEP was recorded during the 7‐year period, with an average of 360 PEP per 100,000 inhabitants per year. Spatial analysis revealed the presence of clusters of PEP in the Northern and Central governorates. The present study pointed out the need to review the control strategy of rabies in Tunisia and conduct further studies on dog population to provide the basis for a new and efficacious policy of interventions and control program for rabies.

Analysis of time delayed Rabies model in human and dog populations with controls

Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease caused by a virus through bites or saliva of an infected animal. Dogs are the main reservoir of rabies and responsible for most cases in humans worldwide. In this article, a delay differential equations model for assessing the effects of controls and time delay as incubation period on the transmission dynamics of rabies in human and dog populations is formulated and analyzed. Analysis from the model show that there is a locally and globally asymptotic stable disease-free equilibrium whenever a certain epidemiological threshold, the control reproduction number mathcal {R}_v, is less than unity. Furthermore, the model has a unique endemic equilibrium when mathcal {R}_v exceed unity which is also locally and globally asymptotically stable for all delays. Time delay is found to have influence on the endemicity of rabies. Vaccination of humans and dogs coupled with annual crop of puppies are imposed to curtail the spread of rabies in the populations. Sensitivity analysis on the number of infected humans and dogs revealed that increasing dog vaccination rate and decreasing annual birth of puppies are more effective in human populations. However in dog populations, the vaccination and birth control of puppies, have equal effective measures for rabies control. Numerical experiments are conducted to illustrate the theoretical results and control strategies.

Descriptive profile of patients attending antirabies clinic: a hospital based study of animal bite cases in Patiala

Background: The word “Rabies” is derived from Latin word ‘Rabus’, which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Rabhas’ which means ‘to do violence’. In India, the dog has always existed as the main reservoir of rabies. Globally Asia contributes to highest Rabies mortality; with the highest incidence reported in India followed by China.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the antirabies clinic during the period of one year (2016-2017). A self-administered, pretested questionnaire was used to extract information on demographic profile, biting animal, nature of biting dog, vaccination status, WHO category of bite, site of bite. Information of 500 animal bite cases were collected during the study period.Results: Maximum cases were reported among children below 15 years age group i.e. 157 (31.4%). Majority reported cases 342 (68.40%) were males and maximum reported cases 338 (67.60%) were from urban area. Majority 472 (94.4%) were bitten by dogs. Approximately two third (66.74%) of the biting dogs were stray while, among the total 157 (33.26%) pet dogs; approximately only one third 59 (37.58%) were vaccinated.Conclusions: Since young children are more at risk of animal bite. So, educational sessions providing knowledge to protect themselves from bites should be a part of School Health Programme. A cooperative approach involving measures like proper garbage disposal, discouraging community owned dogs, helping dog catching squad and sterilization will help to reduce the dog population.

Rabies surveillance-response in Mali in the past 18 years and requirements for the future

ContextRabies is endemic in Mali, but little is known about the distribution of rabies and its surveillance across the country. Documenting the evolution of rabies and the problems related to surveillance is useful to facilitate elimination of human rabies by 2030. MethodData collected at the Central Veterinary Laboratory (LCV) from 1999 to 2017 and through the surveillance system functioning at household, health and veterinary structure levels, as established by the Global Vaccine Alliance funded project on the burden of rabies, between 2016 and 2017 in Bamako and the Sikasso region were used in this study. All data on animals examined for rabies by the direct fluorescence antibody test (DFA) during the specified time period were summarized, and the proportion of rabies positive tested among animals suspected of rabies was estimated. From the number of dogs tested positive for rabies, a cumulative incidence was estimated for the total canine population. The number of positive tested samples was divided by the product of the estimated canine population and number of years (18). In addition, the number of human rabies cases was analyzed to estimate a cumulative incidence. ResultsAmong all animal samples suspected for rabies, 93.2% [95% CI 90.6–95.3] were positive by the DFA test. From the 486 included animal samples, 94.7% [95% CI 92.3–96.5] were domestic dogs with 90.9% [95% CI 87.9–93.3] positive, which stands out as the main reservoir of rabies in Mali. Cats, cattle, sheep and donkeys also tested positive using the DFA test. The cumulative incidence of canine rabies was estimated at 0.371 [95% CI: 0.336–0.408] / 10′000 dogs. The highest incidence was observed in Bamako, the capital of Mali, with a cumulative incidence of 2.242 [95% CI: 2.001–2.504] / 10′000 dogs, followed by Koulikoro with 0.335 [95% CI: 0.258–0.429] / 10′000 dogs. For other areas far from LCV, the cumulative incidence was low, with zero in Kidal. Nationally reported cases of human rabies declined in recent years with an average of 12.6 [95% CI: 8.7–16.5] deaths per year. This result gives an annual incidence of 0.1047 [0.0742–0.1352] / 100′000 inhabitants. ConclusionOver the past 18 years, rabies is endemically stable in Mali despite the decrease in reported human cases. The disparity among regions in number of samples tested indicates a low level of clinical and laboratory surveillance and likely a high level of underreporting. Dogs play the main role in rabies transmission in Mali. Monitoring of and decisions for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) includes other animals (cats, cattle, and monkeys) involved in transmission. Mali should develop a national rabies strategy to include better communication between the public health and animal health sectors, strengthening of laboratory surveillance capacity, mass vaccination of dogs and guaranteed access to PEP.

Spatio-temporal description of bovine rabies cases in Peru, 2003-2017.

Vampire bats became the main reservoir of rabies in Latin America, where the disease remains one of the most important viral zoonoses affecting humans and livestock. In Peru, the most affected livestock are cattle. The official data of 1,729 cases of bovine rabies were evaluated between 2003 and 2017 through a descriptive analysis, decomposition of the time-series and spatio-temporal analyses. Although the cases did not present a defined seasonality, the trend seemed to increase for several years. The bovine rabies cases are more frequent in the inter-Andean valleys than in other regions of the Amazon plains. The highest case density was observed in the regions of Ayacucho, Cuzco and Apurímac, all located in the Andes. It is necessary to review the current national program for the prevention and control of rabies in livestock, incorporating concepts of the ecology of vampire bats, as well as the prediction of the infection waves geographic and temporal spread. These approaches could improve the efficiency of other current prevention measures that have not shown the expected control effects, such as indiscriminate culling of vampire bats.

Efficient distribution of oral vaccines examined by infrared triggered camera for advancing the control of raccoon dog rabies in South Korea.

The field distribution of the oral rabies vaccine is effective in controlling the spread of rabies. The present study aimed to investigate efficient distribution locations based on the environment, contact rate, and consumption by target wildlife species in South Korea. The target species (Korean raccoon dogs, domestic dogs, and feral cats) accounted for 945 contacts (52.2%), in total 1,808 contacts. There were 863 (47.8%) contacts by non-target species. Raccoon dogs, a main reservoir of rabies in South Korea, had the highest contact rate (34.1%) among all species. The contact rate by target species was highest at riparian sites and bushy mountainous vegetation, where raccoon dogs are abundant. There was remarkable contact by raccoon dogs in mountainous areas below 150 m with bushy vegetation. Our results indicate that these locations are efficient areas for vaccine distribution, especially targeting the raccoon dog. Vaccines were continuously contacted with intervals ranging from one hour to one day. Vaccines at 94.4% of the distribution points were completely consumed within two weeks. The mean consumption rate was 95.2 ± 1.93% during the overall study period. These findings suggest that the oral rabies vaccine attracts wildlife including domestic dogs and feral cats. Our results suggest that low sections of mountainous areas with bushy vegetation and/or neighboring riparian areas are rich in target wildlife species (especially raccoon dogs) and are efficient locations for vaccine distribution to control rabies in South Korea.

An assessment of knowledge of prevention and management of Rabies in interns and final year students of Shri M. P. Shah Government Medical College, Jamnagar, Gujarat

Background: Rabies is one of the most important zoonotic diseases in India. Dogs are the main reservoir of rabies in India. In Southeast Asia, untreated, improperly treated or neglected cases lead to thousands of death yearly. Rabies can be completely prevented through proper management, but once contracted its almost always fatal. Objectives: To assess the knowledge regarding preventive measures, post-exposure prophylaxis, wound management and use of RIG among the interns and final year medical students of Shri M.P. Shah Government Medical College, Jamnagar, Gujarat. Materials and Methods: It is a cross-sectional study conducted in July, 2013. Data was collected using pre-tested questionnaire from 100 interns and final year students of Shri M.P. Shah Government Medical College, Jamnagar, Gujarat. Results: It was seen that only 59% knew that vaccination of dogs was an essential preventive measure, 80% and 68% agreed that pre-exposure vaccination and educating the people regarding pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis were useful, respectively. Also 89% and 59% were aware that wound should be washed immediately and antiseptics should be applied, respectively. 50% and 29% were not aware of the schedule and dose of the PEP, respectively. Only 35% knew about both IM and ID route of administration of PEP. Only 66% were aware that the site of administration of PEP is deltoid. Conclusion: The study showed that there was no proper knowledge about the prevention and management of rabies in the study population which needs to be overcome immediately with proper training.

Knowledge about epidemiological determinants of rabies and its prevention amongst medical interns of Marathwada region of Maharashtra, India

Background: Rabies is one of the most important zoonotic diseases in India. About 99% of all human deaths from rabies occur in the developing nations. Dogs are the main reservoir of rabies in India. It is invariably fatal if proper treatment is not instituted promptly. One of the important factors associated with successful treatment is the knowledge of the caregiver in the proper management of animal bites and rabies vaccination. Hence the present study was conducted to assess the knowledge about epidemiological determinants of rabies & its prevention amongst medical interns.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out amongst 76 interns of a Private Medical College in Marathwada region of Maharashtra during the period of September to October 2018. Pre-designed, pre-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was entered in MS Excel sheet and analyzed accordingly.Results: Out of 76 interns, there were 36 (47.3%) males and 40 (52.7%) females. Majority 61(80.3%) were Muslims followed by 14(18.4%) were Hindus. About 68.4% interns correctly knew that the route of administration of vaccination could be either intra-muscular or intra-dermal (p=0.0220). About 1/4th i.e. 25% interns didn’t know about incubation period of rabies in human (p=0.0079). However, 29(38.2%) interns didn’t know about exact site of administration of rabies immunoglobulin is at wound site.Conclusions: The present study concluded that there were significant gaps in the knowledge about prevention of rabies which needs to be overcome immediately with proper training.

Rabies knowledge, attitudes, and practices of human and animal healthcare providers in Chad

Rabies, an infectious disease mainly transmitted by dog bites, is fatal due to lack of appropriate knowledge-attitudes-practices (KAP). The KAP of healthcare providers are particularly important because of their presence in the communities and their profession and were evaluated in the present study. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based descriptive study was conducted in healthcare providers recruited from four health districts in Chad in 2015. Data were analysed with Epi Info. 7. 270 health care providers were interviewed. 87% defined rabies as a disease transmitted from dogs to man. The main reservoir of rabies was the dog (96.7%), the cat (68.9%), but also other animals (35%). All respondents reported dogs to be a vector and 79.6% reported cats. Healthcare providers considered that the virus was transmitted by bites (99.3%) and scratches (50%). The primary means of prevention was vaccination of dogs (82.1%) and post-exposure prophylaxis (16.4%). Immediate washing of the wounds was reported by 65.2% of respondents. Healthcare providers have a good knowledge of the dog as a reservoir and vector of rabies. However, continuous training is needed to enable them to acquire knowledge about the role of cats and the importance of scratching in the transmission of rabies virus, the need for wound washing, and appropriate bite management based on collaboration between human and veterinary health sectors.

Vaccine-induced rabies case in a cow (Bos taurus): Molecular characterisation of vaccine strain in brain tissue

Rabies is a fatal neuropathogenic zoonosis caused by the rabies virus of the Lyssavirus genus, Rhabdoviridae family. The oral vaccination of foxes — the main reservoir of rabies in Europe — using a live attenuated rabies virus vaccine was successfully conducted in many Western European countries. In July 2015, a rabies vaccine strain was isolated from the brain tissues of a clinically suspect cow (Bos taurus) in Romania. The nucleotide analysis of both N and G gene sequences showed 100% identity between the rabid animal, the GenBank reference SAD B19 strain and five rabies vaccine batches used for the national oral vaccination campaign targeting foxes.

Assessment of knowledge about rabies in interns of Geetanjali medical college, Udaipur

Background: Rabies is one of the zoonotic diseases. Dogs are the main reservoir of Rabies in India but it can cause by any rabid carnivores bite. The untreated, improperly treated or neglected cases lead to sure death. Rabies can be prevented through proper management by vaccination, serum and immunoglobulin but once disease occurred it is always fatal. Objectives: To assess the knowledge regarding rabies and its preventive measures among the interns. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted in January 2014 to March 2014. Data was collected using preformed questionnaire from 100 interns of Geetanjali medical college, Udaipur. Results: It was seen that only 59% knew that vaccination of dogs was an essential preventive measure, 80% and 68% agreed that pre-exposure vaccination and educating the people regarding pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis were useful, respectively. Also 89% and 59% were aware that wound should be washed immediately and antiseptics should be applied, respectively. 50% and 29% were not aware of the schedule and dose of the PEP, respectively. Only 35% knew about both IM and ID route of administration of PEP. Only 66% were aware that the site of administration of PEP is deltoid. Conclusions: The study showed that there was lack of proper knowledge in interns about the prevention and management of rabies which needs to be proper training and proper education.

Recurrence of Animal Rabies, Greece, 2012

Recurrence of Animal Rabies, Greece, 2012

Emergence of dog rabies in the Northern region of Israel

Between 1979 and 2000, foxes constituted the main reservoir of rabies in the Northern regions of Israel. Following the implementation of the fox-targeted oral vaccination programme (ORV) in 1998, rabies was eradicated from this area. Subsequently during 2004-2007, the biological and molecular characterization of the rabies isolates showed that stray dogs emerged as the main animal reservoir in Northern Israel while lower numbers of cases were reported in domestic animals. The virus isolates from foxes and dogs differed, in their molecular characterization, suggesting two distinct separate lineages. The transition from fox-mediated rabies to dog-mediated rabies is of great concern to public health because of the close contact between dogs and the human population.

Control of Rabies in Slovenia

Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are the main reservoir of rabies in Slovenia, whereas cases of rabies in other wildlife species occur sporadically. In 1995, a program of oral vaccination of wildlife in Slovenia was initiated; baits with oral vaccine were distributed by air at a density of 20 baits/km(2). During 1995, when the oral vaccination program was started, 1,089 cases of rabies (including both wild and domestic animals) were reported. Five years later (1999), only six positive animals were detected among 1,195 tested (0.5%). Despite an increase in bait density (25 baits/km(2)) during the years 2000 and 2001, reported rabies cases increased to 115 and 135, respectively. In 2003, following initiation of a new bait-dropping strategy, which incorporated perpendicular rather than parallel flight lines, the number of rabies cases decreased to eight.

Modelling disease spread in a novel host: rabies in the European badger Meles meles

Summary Although the red fox Vulpes vulpes is the main reservoir of rabies in Europe, badger Meles meles populations are known to be drastically affected. Models of badger population dynamics are combined with a fox/rabies model to examine the possibility of rabies spread in high‐density badger populations, such as those found in the United Kingdom (UK). Although some data exist on rabies epizootiology in the badger, there are no data on badger‐to‐badger contact rates (either healthy or diseased animals). As a starting point consensus expert opinion was used to devise contact probabilities, and the model was found to be insensitive to reasonable variation in these rates for the density of badgers at which these estimates were made. Density‐dependent (but not density‐independent) contact probabilities simulated short chains of infections that may occur in continental Europe at low badger densities, and simulated true epizootics at higher densities. Another possible reason for these short chains of infections in continental Europe is a very high level of fragmentation between social groups. Given the high level of territorial contiguity and possible contact rates found in some parts of the UK, the model suggests that rabies is capable of spreading within the UK badger population, and a provisional map showing the likelihood of an epizootic is presented.