Proceedings, National Rabies Symposium

co-sponsors: AVMA Council on Public Health and Regulatory Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Public Health Section, Epidemiology Program, CDC

Midwestern-Northcentral Regional Rabies Conference, Omaha, Nebraska, May 21-22, 1951

Edited by James H. Steele.Recommendations: WHEREAS, rabies has become established and appears to be spreading through the upper Mississippi and Missouri Valleys and so constitutes a serious threat to human health, agricultural economy, and wildlife resources of this area, representatives of the affected States and the personnel' of responsible Federal agencies met at Omaha, Nebraska, on May 21-22, 1951, and in closing agreed as follows: 1. That each of the affected States inaugurate coordinated programs for the control of rabies; that each State's program can most effectively be carried out through the creation of a committee composed of representatives from those agencies at the State level responsible for public health, livestock disease control, and wildlife conservation; 2. That each State arrange for adequate diagnostic facilities, and that reports of rabies cases in animals be collected by an approved State agency, and that the State health officer include these data in the weekly telegraphic reports to the U. S. Public Health Service; 3. That the epizootiology of rabies in wildlife is inadequately understood, and to urge that investigation of this subject be made to provide information necessary for the intelligent and effective control of this disease; 4. That technical assistance and guidance is available from the U. S. Public Health Service of the Federal Security Agency, the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior, and the Bureau of Animal Industry of the U. S. Department of Agriculture

Estimating the global burden of endemic canine rabies

Background: Rabies is a notoriously underreported and neglected disease of lowincome countries. This study aims to estimate the public health and economic burden of rabies circulating in domestic dog populations, globally and on a country-by-country basis, allowing an objective assessment of how much this preventable disease costs endemic countries.<p></p> Methodology/Principal Findings: We established relationships between rabies mortality and rabies prevention and control measures, which we incorporated into a model framework. We used data derived from extensive literature searches and questionnaires on disease incidence, control interventions and preventative measures within this framework to estimate the disease burden. The burden of rabies impacts on public health sector budgets, local communities and livestock economies, with the highest risk of rabies in the poorest regions of the world. This study estimates that globally canine rabies causes approximately 59,000 (95% Confidence Intervals: 25- 159,000) human deaths, over 3.7 million (95% CIs: 1.6-10.4 million) disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and 8.6 billion USD (95% CIs: 2.9-21.5 billion) economic losses annually. The largest component of the economic burden is due to premature death (55%), followed by direct costs of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP, 20%) and lost income whilst seeking PEP (15.5%), with only limited costs to the veterinary sector due to dog vaccination (1.5%), and additional costs to communities from livestock losses (6%).<p></p> Conclusions/Significance: This study demonstrates that investment in dog vaccination, the single most effective way of reducing the disease burden, has been inadequate and that the availability and affordability of PEP needs improving. Collaborative investments by medical and veterinary sectors could dramatically reduce the current large, and unnecessary, burden of rabies on affected communities. Improved surveillance is needed to reduce uncertainty in burden estimates and to monitor the impacts of control efforts.<p></p&gt

Author index

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.Proceedings of a workshop held at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa, 3-5 May 1993mn201

Subject index

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

The bat-eared fox : a prime candidate for rabies vector?

Bat-eared foxes, Otocyon megalotis , are small (3-5 kg) , primarily insectivorous carnivores widespread in the more arid areas of southern and East Africa. For many months of the year they live in nuclear family groups, members of which frequently indulge in affiliative behaviour such as play, allogrooming, and huddling. Physical contact between individuals in any particular group is thus common. In addition, groups are non-territorial and intermingle freely at times when exploiting food-rich patches of clumped prey, e.g. individuals foraging for harvester termites, Hodotermes mossambicus.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.Foundation for Research Development. University of Pretoria. University of Stellenbosch.mn201

Bat-eared fox behavioural ecology and the incidence of rabies in the Serengeti National Park

This paper provides a brief introduction into some aspects of bat-eared fox biology and social organization that is important to understanding rabies transmission and disease management in susceptible wildlife species (Macdonald 1980; 1993). A detailed description of the effects of two rabies outbreaks on a population of known individuals in the Serengeti National Park is given. Inter- and intrasexual differences in adult mortality rates are reported and discussed.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.Proceedings of a workshop held at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa, 3-5 May 1993Max-Planck lnstitut fur Verhaltensphysiologie. Bedford Fund for Zoology. Durham Fund, Kings College, Cambridge.mn201

Canine rabies

Dog rabies is still epizootic in most countries of Africa, Asia and South America and in these countries dogs are responsible for most human deaths from the disease. The incubation period in dogs may vary from one week to several months and may be influenced by the site of infection and the virus dose and strain. Diagnosis by clinical signs alone is inadequate since many rabid dogs develop dumb rabies which can easily be overlooked and others die without showing signs of rabies. Rabies virus may be excreted in the saliva before clinical signs appear and may lead to infection of an unsuspecting and untreated bite victim. Dogs may recover from clinical rabies and may then intermittently excrete virus in the saliva. Prevention of human rabies depends on the control of canine rabies which can only be achieved by mass-immunization and control of stray dog populations.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

Bait formulation and distribution for oral rabies vaccination of domestic dogs : an overview

Current efforts to develop oral rabies vaccine baits for domestic dogs are reviewed and new materials (bait matrices, additives, vaccine containers, vaccine modification) for improving bait acceptance and vaccine delivery are suggested. Methods that have been used to evaluate the food or bait preferences of confined and free-ranging animals are summarized, as are the guidelines for bait distribution compiled by the World Health Organization.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