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Biology Letters Sep 2022Rabies virus (RABV) transmitted by the common vampire bat () poses a threat to agricultural development and public health throughout the Neotropics. The ecology and... (Review)
Review
Rabies virus (RABV) transmitted by the common vampire bat () poses a threat to agricultural development and public health throughout the Neotropics. The ecology and evolution of rabies host-pathogen dynamics are influenced by two infection-induced behavioural changes. RABV-infected hosts often exhibit increased aggression which facilitates transmission, and rabies also leads to reduced activity and paralysis prior to death. Although several studies document rabies-induced behavioural changes in rodents and other dead-end hosts, surprisingly few studies have measured these changes in vampire bats, the key natural reservoir throughout Latin America. Taking advantage of an experiment designed to test an oral rabies vaccine in captive male vampire bats, we quantify for the first time, to our knowledge, how rabies affects allogrooming and aggressive behaviours in this species. Compared to non-rabid vampire bats, rabid individuals reduced their allogrooming prior to death, but we did not detect increases in aggression among bats. To put our results in context, we review what is known and what remains unclear about behavioural changes of rabid vampire bats (resumen en español, electronic supplementary material, S1).
Topics: Animals; Chiroptera; Male; Rabies; Rabies Vaccines; Rabies virus
PubMed: 36069068
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0298 -
The Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary... Apr 2014Over the past 20 years, major progress has been made in our understanding of critical aspects of rabies epidemiology and control. This paper presents results of recent... (Review)
Review
Over the past 20 years, major progress has been made in our understanding of critical aspects of rabies epidemiology and control. This paper presents results of recent research, highlighting methodological advances that have been applied to burden of disease studies, rabies epidemiological modelling and rabies surveillance. These results contribute new insights and understanding with regard to the epidemiology of rabies and help to counteract misperceptions that currently hamper rabies control efforts in Africa. The conclusion of these analyses is that the elimination of canine rabies in Africa is feasible, even in wildlife-rich areas, through mass vaccination of domestic dogs and without the need for indiscriminate culling to reduce dog population density. Furthermore, the research provides valuable practical insights that support the operational planning and design of dog vaccination campaigns and rabies surveillance measures.
Topics: Africa; Animals; Animals, Wild; Dog Diseases; Dogs; Rabies
PubMed: 25005807
DOI: 10.4102/ojvr.v81i2.731 -
Microbiology Spectrum Dec 2015A review of the global burden of rabies and the risk of exposure from leisure activities. (Review)
Review
A review of the global burden of rabies and the risk of exposure from leisure activities.
Topics: Animals; Dog Diseases; Dogs; Global Health; History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; History, Ancient; Humans; Leisure Activities; Rabies
PubMed: 27337280
DOI: 10.1128/microbiolspec.IOL5-0018-2015 -
Scientific Reports Dec 2022Domestic dogs can affect human health through bites and pathogen transmission, particularly in resource-poor countries where dogs, including owned ones, predominantly...
Domestic dogs can affect human health through bites and pathogen transmission, particularly in resource-poor countries where dogs, including owned ones, predominantly roam freely. Habitat and resource selection analysis methods are commonplace in wildlife studies but have not been used to investigate the environmental resource use of free-roaming domestic dogs (FRDD). The present study implements GPS devices to investigate habitat selection by FRDD from an urban site and a rural site in Indonesia, and one urban and two rural sites in Guatemala (N = 321 dogs). Spatial mixed effects logistic regression models, accounting for heterogeneous distribution of the resources, showed that patterns of habitat selection by FRDD were similar across study sites. The most preferred resources were anthropogenic, being buildings and roads, which implies selection for human proximity. Vegetation and open fields were less preferred and steep terrain was avoided, indicating that FRDD were synanthropic and that their space patterns likely optimised energy use. Results presented here provide novel data on FRDD habitat selection patterns, while improving our understanding of dog roaming behaviour. These findings provide insights into possible high-risk locations for pathogen transmission for diseases such as rabies, and can assist management authorities in the planning and deployment of efficient disease control campaigns, including oral vaccination.
Topics: Humans; Dogs; Animals; Rabies; Animals, Wild; Guatemala; Indonesia; Ecosystem
PubMed: 36463285
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25038-z -
Viruses Apr 2014Extensive surveillance in bat populations in response to recent emerging diseases has revealed that this group of mammals acts as a reservoir for a large range of... (Review)
Review
Extensive surveillance in bat populations in response to recent emerging diseases has revealed that this group of mammals acts as a reservoir for a large range of viruses. However, the oldest known association between a zoonotic virus and a bat is that between rabies virus and the vampire bat. Vampire bats are only found in Latin America and their unique method of obtaining nutrition, blood-feeding or haematophagy, has only evolved in the New World. The adaptations that enable blood-feeding also make the vampire bat highly effective at transmitting rabies virus. Whether the virus was present in pre-Columbian America or was introduced is much disputed, however, the introduction of Old World livestock and associated landscape modification, which continues to the present day, has enabled vampire bat populations to increase. This in turn has provided the conditions for rabies re-emergence to threaten both livestock and human populations as vampire bats target large mammals. This review considers the ecology of the vampire bat that make it such an efficient vector for rabies, the current status of vampire-transmitted rabies and the future prospects for spread by this virus and its control.
Topics: Animals; Chiroptera; Ecology; Rabies; Rabies virus; Zoonoses
PubMed: 24784570
DOI: 10.3390/v6051911 -
Revue Scientifique Et Technique... Dec 2017Rabies is a major zoonosis that affects the central nervous system of warm-blooded mammals. The disease is present worldwide, except for some islands. Africa and Asia... (Review)
Review
Rabies is a major zoonosis that affects the central nervous system of warm-blooded mammals. The disease is present worldwide, except for some islands. Africa and Asia record over 95% of the fatal cases of rabies worldwide, and therefore the greatest risk to human life from rabies occurs in these regions. Mass vaccination of dogs is the most appropriate way to control and eliminate the disease at the animal source, in order to interrupt the infectious cycle of the disease from animals to humans. Rabies is endemic in the North African region, and countries should be encouraged to develop programmes for eliminating human rabies through the implementation of sustained campaigns to immunise dogs and by providing post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to people who have been exposed to suspected rabid dogs. In Tunisia, the national strategy against rabies was started in 1981 and it has been upgraded since. Following the launch of the annual vaccination programme in 1993, there was a significant improvement in the health status for rabies in Tunisia, with a decrease in the number of cases in animals and humans. Since 2011, an increase in cases of rabies in dogs and humans has been observed, due to lower vaccination coverage, mismanagement of waste and an increase in the stray dog population. The political will at international, regional and national levels is the cornerstone of the strategy to eliminate the disease. In the framework of the regional approach in the Maghreb, additional efforts and political willingness are necessary at the national level to better control and eventually eliminate rabies.
Topics: Animals; Dog Diseases; Dogs; Humans; Rabies; Rabies Vaccines; Time Factors; Tunisia
PubMed: 30160705
DOI: 10.20506/rst.36.3.2718 -
Veterinary Research Sep 2013Mayotte and La Reunion islands are currently free of animal rabies and surveillance is performed by the French Human and Veterinary Public Health Services. However, dog... (Review)
Review
Mayotte and La Reunion islands are currently free of animal rabies and surveillance is performed by the French Human and Veterinary Public Health Services. However, dog rabies is still enzootic in Madagascar with 4 to 10 confirmed human cases each year. The number of antirabies medical centres in Madagascar is still scarce to provide easy access to the local population for post-exposure rabies prophylaxis. Furthermore, stray dog populations are considerable and attempts to control rabies by mass campaigns of dog vaccination have not received sufficient attention from the national health authorities. To address these challenges, an expanded program to control rabies needs to be initiated by the Malagasy authorities.
Topics: Animals; Chiroptera; Comoros; Dog Diseases; Dogs; Epidemiological Monitoring; Humans; Likelihood Functions; Madagascar; Phylogeny; Rabies; Rabies virus; Reunion
PubMed: 24016204
DOI: 10.1186/1297-9716-44-77 -
Veterinary Medicine and Science Nov 2022This study determines the seroprevalence and associated factors of rabies in unvaccinated dogs in Sierra Leone.
OBJECTIVE
This study determines the seroprevalence and associated factors of rabies in unvaccinated dogs in Sierra Leone.
BACKGROUND
Rabies control is poorly coordinated in Sierra Leone which was ranked as the third hungriest country in the world. Due to limited access to rabies vaccines, the need for comprehensive serological data on dogs for control of the disease is expedient.
METHODS
A random multistage technique considering high, medium and low incident areas of rabies cases in dog-populated communities was adopted. Samples were collected from dogs with owners which were at least 1-year old. Samples were analysed using a commercial ELISA in accordance to manufacturer's instructions.
RESULTS
25.2% of the total 270 samples tested positive for the presence of rabies antibodies. Kenema district had the highest number of positive samples, followed by the Bombali district and Moyamba district the least. Predisposing factors, including sex, the status of castration, the type of settlement, district and the availability of fences at locations where dogs are kept, had significant effects (p<0.05) on the exposure of dogs to rabies. The 25.2% antibody seroprevalence obtained is very low.
CONCLUSIONS
Concerted effort should be made to enhance rabies vaccination through an awareness campaign and provision of vaccine to dog owners. Good waste disposal and management practices to reduce open garbage disposal in communities will go a long way to limit the stray-dog population and minimize rabies outbreaks especially in third-world countries where rabies vaccines are not accessible.
Topics: Dogs; Animals; Rabies Vaccines; Rabies; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Sierra Leone; Dog Diseases; Causality
PubMed: 36163650
DOI: 10.1002/vms3.946 -
Open Veterinary Journal Nov 2023An infectious disease known as rabies (family Rhabdoviridae, genus ) causes severe damage to mammals' central nervous systems (CNS). This illness has been around for a... (Review)
Review
An infectious disease known as rabies (family Rhabdoviridae, genus ) causes severe damage to mammals' central nervous systems (CNS). This illness has been around for a very long time. The majority of human cases of rabies take place in underdeveloped regions of Africa and Asia. Following viral transmission, the Rhabdovirus enters the peripheral nervous system and proceeds to the CNS, where it targets the encephalon and produces encephalomyelitis. Postbite prophylaxis requires laboratory confirmation of rabies in both people and animals. All warm-blooded animals can transmit the infection, while the virus can also develop in the cells of cold-blooded animals. In the 21st century, more than 3 billion people are in danger of contracting the rabies virus in more than 100 different nations, resulting in an annual death toll of 50,000-59,000. There are three important elements in handling rabies disease in post exposure prophylaxis (PEP), namely wound care, administration of anti-rabies serum, and anti-rabies vaccine. Social costs include death, lost productivity as a result of early death, illness as a result of vaccination side effects, and the psychological toll that exposure to these deadly diseases has on people. Humans are most frequently exposed to canine rabies, especially youngsters and the poor, and there are few resources available to treat or prevent exposure, making prevention of human rabies challenging.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Dogs; Rabies; Rabies Vaccines; Rabies virus; Animals, Domestic; Vaccination; Mammals; Dog Diseases
PubMed: 38107233
DOI: 10.5455/OVJ.2023.v13.i11.1 -
Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 2004Rabies seems to persist throughout most arctic regions, and the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland, is the only part of the Arctic where rabies has not been... (Review)
Review
Rabies seems to persist throughout most arctic regions, and the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland, is the only part of the Arctic where rabies has not been diagnosed in recent time. The arctic fox is the main host, and the same arctic virus variant seems to infect the arctic fox throughout the range of this species. The epidemiology of rabies seems to have certain common characteristics in arctic regions, but main questions such as the maintenance and spread of the disease remains largely unknown. The virus has spread and initiated new epidemics also in other species such as the red fox and the racoon dog. Large land areas and cold climate complicate the control of the disease, but experimental oral vaccination of arctic foxes has been successful. This article summarises the current knowledge and the typical characteristics of arctic rabies including its distribution and epidemiology.
Topics: Animals; Animals, Wild; Arctic Regions; Foxes; Rabies
PubMed: 15535081
DOI: 10.1186/1751-0147-45-1