Current status of fox rabies in Europe

There was a general decline in animal rabies in Europe in 1991 following the peak levels which occurred in 1989. This was ascribed, in France at least, to the normal decline in cases usually experienced following peak occurrence and also to oral immunization of foxes against rabies. European countries in which rabies occurs may be infected by fox, insectivorous bat or dog rabies. This paper makes a general summary of the rabies situation in Europe in 1991 and presents data obtained in 1991 from 15 European countries using oral vaccination against fox rabies.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201

SAG-2 oral rabies vaccine

The live modified rabies virus vaccine strain SAG-2 was selected from SAD Berne in a two step process employing anti-rabies glycoprotein monoclonal antibodies. The first two nucleotides coding for the amino acid in position 333 of the rabies glycoprotein are mutated. Arginine at position 333, which is associated with rabies pathogenicity, was substituted first by lysine and then by glutamic acid. The two nucleotide differences at position 333 in SAG-2 to any of six possible arginine triplets translated into excellent genetic stability and apathogenicity for adult mice, foxes, cats and dogs. The vaccination of foxes and dogs by the oral route provided protection against a lethal challenge with rabies virus.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201

Humoral immunity after anti-rabies vaccination

Le niveau de l’immunité humorale après vaccination contre la rage a été comparé chez l’homme et quatre espèces animales (singes, chiens, renards, bovins) au cours de 258 titrages sérologiques. Après une injection (de primo-vaccination) ces niveaux sont assez semblables dans toutes les espèces. On remarque toutefois, chez chacune d’elles, l’existence de sujets bons ou mauvais producteurs d’anticorps en proportion variable : plus élevée chez les primates, plus rares chez les bovins. Chez l’homme cette réaction individuelle, plus ou moins favorable, reste stable au cours des rappels annuels successifs.Levels of humoral immunity after vaccination against rabies were compared in man and four animal species (.monkeys, dogs, foxes and cattle) after 258 rabies virus neutralizing antibody titrations. Following one injection of primo-vaccination these levels were rather equi valent among the five species. However, in each of them, high and low responder animals were found in various amount: frequently among Primates, scarcely among cattle. This more or less effective responsiveness remained steady among people vaccinated yearly

Antirabic vaccination of the fox by oral way

Les essais de vaccination par voie orale contre la rage de 117 renards roux ( Vulpes vulpes ) sont rapportés, leurs résultats étant jugés par le titrage des anticorps neutralisants suivis de l’épreuve virulente par une souche sauvage. Ces essais ont employé six souches différentes de virus rabique (Flury, « S AD. », «C.V.S.», « G.S./C », « Ts 0 55 » et « Av 01) non inactivées, modifiées par passages in vivo ou in vitro, et une souche de virus C V S. inactivée. Si cette dernière n’a entraîné aucune protection après dépôt direct dans la gueule des renards, d’autres se sont avérées capables d’immuniser le renard à condition d’être employées à un titre suffisant. L’étude complète de l'innocuité de ces virus, pour les espèces « non cibles », reste toutefois un préalable indispensable à leur emploi pratique.Trials of oral vaccination against rabies are reported in 117 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), their results being evaluated by titration of antibodies and challenge with a wild strain. These trials used six different strains of rabies virus (Flury, S.A.D., C.V.S., G.S./C., Ts O 55 and Av 0 1) living, modified by serial passages in vivo or in vitro, and one inactivated C.V.S. strain. This last did not protect foxes after direct deposit in their mouth, but living virus did, provided they were used at sufficient titres. However safety test of these virus, for non target species, remain to be achieved before their practical use in the field

Terrestrial carnivores and human food production: impact and management

1. The production of food for human consumption has led to an historical and global conflict with terrestrial carnivores, which in turn has resulted in the extinction or extirpation of many species, although some have benefited. At present, carnivores affect food production by: (i) killing human producers; killing and/or eating (ii) fish/shellfish; (iii) game/wildfowl; (iv) livestock; (v) damaging crops; (vi) transmitting diseases; and (vii) through trophic interactions with other species in agricultural landscapes. Conversely, carnivores can themselves be a source of dietary protein (bushmeat). 2. Globally, the major areas of conflict are predation on livestock and the transmission of rabies. At a broad scale, livestock predation is a customary problem where predators are present and has been quantified for a broad range of carnivore species, although the veracity of these estimates is equivocal. Typically, but not always, losses are small relative to the numbers held, but can be a significant proportion of total livestock mortality. Losses experienced by producers are often highly variable, indicating that factors such as husbandry practices and predator behaviour may significantly affect the relative vulnerability of properties in the wider landscape. Within livestock herds, juvenile animals are particularly vulnerable. 3. Proactive and reactive culling are widely practised as a means to limit predation on livestock and game. Historic changes in species' distributions and abundance illustrate that culling programmes can be very effective at reducing predator density, although such substantive impacts are generally considered undesirable for native predators. However, despite their prevalence, the effectiveness, efficiency and the benefit:cost ratio of culling programmes have been poorly studied. 4. A wide range of non-lethal methods to limit predation has been studied. However, many of these have their practical limitations and are unlikely to be widely applicable. 5. Lethal approaches are likely to dominate the management of terrestrial carnivores for the foreseeable future, but animal welfare considerations are increasingly likely to influence management strategies. The adoption of non-lethal approaches will depend upon proof of their effectiveness and the willingness of stakeholders to implement them, and, in some cases, appropriate licensing and legislation. 6. Overall, it is apparent that we still understand relatively little about the importance of factors affecting predation on livestock and how to manage this conflict effectively. We consider the following avenues of research to be essential: (i) quantified assessments of the loss of viable livestock; (ii) landscape-level studies of contiguous properties to quantify losses associated with variables such as different husbandry practices; (iii) replicated experimental manipulations to identify the relative benefit of particular management practices, incorporating (iv) techniques to identify individual predators killing stock; and (v) economic analyses of different management approaches to quantify optimal production strategies