Abstract
Almost all cases of human rabies result from dog bites, making the elimination of canine rabies a global priority. During recent decades, many countries in the Western Hemisphere have carried out large-scale dog vaccination campaigns, controlled their free-ranging dog populations and enforced legislation for responsible pet ownership. This article reviews progress in eliminating canine rabies from the Western Hemisphere. After briefly summarizing the history of control efforts and describing the approaches listed above, we note that programs in some countries have been hindered by societal attitudes and severe economic disparities, which underlines the need to discuss measures that will be required to complete the elimination of canine rabies throughout the region. We also note that there is a constant threat for dog-maintained epizootics to re-occur, so as long as dog-maintained rabies “hot spots” are still present, free-roaming dog populations remain large, herd immunity becomes low and dog-derived rabies lyssavirus (RABLV) variants continue to circulate in close proximity to rabies-naïve dog populations. The elimination of dog-maintained rabies will be only feasible if both dog-maintained and dog-derived RABLV lineages and variants are permanently eliminated. This may be possible by keeping dog herd immunity above 70% at all times, fostering sustained laboratory-based surveillance through reliable rabies diagnosis and RABLV genetic typing in dogs, domestic animals and wildlife, as well as continuing to educate the population on the risk of rabies transmission, prevention and responsible pet ownership. Complete elimination of canine rabies requires permanent funding, with governments and people committed to make it a reality. An accompanying article reviews the history and epidemiology of canine rabies in the Western Hemisphere, beginning with its introduction during the period of European colonization, and discusses how spillovers of viruses between dogs and various wild carnivores will affect future eradication efforts (Velasco-Villa et al., 2017).
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-12 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Antiviral Research |
| Volume | 143 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 1 2017 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Canada and the USA, through their PAHO/WHO rabies research reference centers [the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)] and in conjunction with other government institutions, collaborate with countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to support regional capacities for laboratory-based surveillance, to expedite rabies detection, and to support reference activities such as antigenic and genetic typing of RABLV for identification of variants and most likely transmission sources. In addition, regional political agreements such as the North American Rabies Management Plan among Canada, the USA and Mexico, signed in 2008, which provide continuity for canine rabies elimination efforts in the region (Slate et al., 2009). This plan fosters the transfer of diagnostic and typing technology, expedites typing results through CDC and CFIA, provides regular training on existing or novel diagnostic and typing technologies, supplies and replenishes diagnostic/virus typing kits and reagents on a regular basis, and promotes the periodic exchange of relevant rabies epidemiological and epizootiological information (Slate et al., 2009).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017
