11 research outputs found
Evolution of the number of detected rabies cases over time, number of dropped baits and type of vaccine used in the three Baltic countries (top to bottom: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) since 2005.
<p>Evolution of the number of detected rabies cases over time, number of dropped baits and type of vaccine used in the three Baltic countries (top to bottom: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) since 2005.</p
Rabies in the Baltic States: Decoding a Process of Control and Elimination
<div><p>Rabies is a fatal zoonosis that still causes nearly 70, 000 human deaths every year. In Europe, the oral rabies vaccination (ORV) of red foxes (<i>Vulpes vulpes</i>) was developed in the late 1970s and has demonstrated its effectiveness in the eradication of the disease in Western and some Central European countries. Following the accession of the three Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—to the European Union in 2004, subsequent financial support has allowed the implementation of regular ORV campaigns since 2005–2006. This paper reviews ten years of surveillance efforts and ORV campaigns in these countries resulting in the near eradication of the disease. The various factors that may have influenced the results of vaccination monitoring were assessed using generalized linear models (GLMs) on bait uptake and on herd immunity. As shown in previous studies, juveniles had lower bait uptake level than adults. For the first time, raccoon dogs (<i>Nyctereutes procyonoides)</i> were shown to have significantly lower bait uptake proportion compared with red foxes. This result suggests potentially altered ORV effectiveness in this invasive species compared to the red foxes. An extensive phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the North-East European (NEE) rabies phylogroup is endemic in all three Baltic countries. Although successive oral vaccination campaigns have substantially reduced the number of detected rabies cases, sporadic detection of the C lineage (European part of Russian phylogroup) underlines the risk of reintroduction via westward spread from bordering countries. Vaccine induced cases were also reported for the first time in non-target species (<i>Martes martes</i> and <i>Meles meles</i>).</p></div
Evolution of the seroconversion in Latvia (red fox and raccoon dog data) analysed using two different ELISA kits.
<p>Evolution of the seroconversion in Latvia (red fox and raccoon dog data) analysed using two different ELISA kits.</p
Location of the study and evolution of ORV areas.
<p>*Latvia: 2008 and autumn 2011: ORV not fully completed; spring 2014: ORV not carried out.</p
Evolution of the seroconversion level in the three Baltic countries (red fox and raccoon dog data) after implementation of ORV EU programmes in the Baltic States.
<p>Evolution of the seroconversion level in the three Baltic countries (red fox and raccoon dog data) after implementation of ORV EU programmes in the Baltic States.</p
PhyML phylogenetic tree of the 59 representative isolates from Baltic States included in the study.
<p>Abbreviations for the previous described European (Central Europe (CE), Eastern Europe (EE), North-East Europe (NEE) and Western Europe (WE)) and Russian (C) groups are given according to Bourhy et al. [<a href="http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004432#pntd.0004432.ref038" target="_blank">38</a>] and Kuzmin et al. [<a href="http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004432#pntd.0004432.ref048" target="_blank">48</a>].</p
Evolution of the bait uptake in the three Baltic countries (red fox and raccoon dog data) after implementation of ORV EU programmes in the Baltic States.
<p>(S: spring; A: autumn).</p
Evolution of the bait uptake in Latvia in red foxes and raccoon dogs using two different bait types.
<p>Evolution of the bait uptake in Latvia in red foxes and raccoon dogs using two different bait types.</p
Evolution of the bait uptake over time in red foxes and raccoon dogs in the Baltic States.
<p>Evolution of the bait uptake over time in red foxes and raccoon dogs in the Baltic States.</p
Variables associated with the seroconversion and corresponding odds ratio included in the selected model for the three Baltic States data (a), for the Lithuanian data with the variable “AGE” (b) and for the Latvian data with the variable “BAIT DENSITY”, “BAIT TYPE” and “KIT” (c).
<p>Variables associated with the seroconversion and corresponding odds ratio included in the selected model for the three Baltic States data (a), for the Lithuanian data with the variable “AGE” (b) and for the Latvian data with the variable “BAIT DENSITY”, “BAIT TYPE” and “KIT” (c).</p