Inferior rabies vaccine quality and low immunization coverage in dogs (Canis familiaris) in China

SUMMARY Human rabies in China continues to increase exponentially, largely due to an inadequate veterinary infrastructure and poor vaccine coverage of naive dogs. We performed an epidemiological survey of rabies both in humans and animals, examined vaccine quality for animal use, evaluated the vaccination coverage in dogs, and checked the dog samples for the presence of rabies virus. The lack of surveillance in dog rabies, together with the low immunization coverage (up to 2·8% in rural areas) and the high percentage of rabies virus prevalence (up to 6·4%) in dogs, suggests that the dog population is a continual threat for rabies transmission from dogs to humans in China. Results also indicated that the quality of rabies vaccines for animal use did not satisfy all of the requirements for an efficacious vaccine capable of fully eliminating rabies. These data suggest that the factors noted above are highly correlated with the high incidence of human rabies in China.

[1]  M. Molyneux,et al.  Rabies Encephalitis in Malaria-Endemic Area, Malawi, Africa , 2007, Emerging infectious diseases.

[2]  S. Cleaveland,et al.  Canine vaccination--providing broader benefits for disease control. , 2006, Veterinary microbiology.

[3]  Z. Fu,et al.  Human Rabies in China , 2005, Emerging infectious diseases.

[4]  A. Fooks.  Rabies remains a 'neglected disease'. , 2005, Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin.

[5]  E. Fèvre,et al.  The epidemiology of animal bite injuries in Uganda and projections of the burden of rabies , 2005, Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH.

[6]  M C Schneider,et al.  Overview of rabies in the Americas. , 2005, Virus research.

[7]  M. Meltzer,et al.  Re-evaluating the burden of rabies in Africa and Asia. , 2005, Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

[8]  M. Ade,et al.  Epidemiologic situation of human rabies in Latin America in 2004. , 2005, Epidemiological bulletin.

[9]  E. Fèvre,et al.  Estimating the Public Health Impact of Rabies , 2004, Emerging infectious diseases.

[10]  A. Belotto.  The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) role in the control of rabies in Latin America. , 2004, Developments in biologicals.

[11]  G. S,et al.  O.I.E. Manual of Standards for Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines: , 2004, Veterinary Research Communications.

[12]  N. Johnson,et al.  Rabies in North America and Europe. , 2002, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

[13]  U. Thisyakorn,et al.  Rabies exposures in thai children. , 2001, Wilderness & environmental medicine.

[14]  M. Aubert,et al.  Development of a fluorescent antibody virus neutralisation test (FAVN test) for the quantitation of rabies-neutralising antibody. , 1998, Journal of immunological methods.

[15]  H. Koprowski,et al.  Laboratory Techniques in Rabies , 2022 .

[16]  D. Schmid,et al.  The protective role of humoral neutralizing antibody in the NIH potency test for rabies vaccines. , 1991, Vaccine.

[17]  M. Kenney,et al.  The Effectiveness of Metachloridine in Suppressing Natural Infections with Plasmodium Malariae and P. Falciparum in British Guiana , 1947 .

[18]  L. J. Reed.  A simple method of estimating fifty per cent end-points. , 1938 .