Rabies in Cats-An Emerging Public Health Issue.

Human rabies cases today are predominantly associated with infection from rabid domestic dogs. Unlike dogs, a common global reservoir species that perpetuates rabies viruses (RABV) within their populations, domestic cats are much less frequently reported or vaccinated. Epidemiologically, cats are important vectors of lyssaviruses but are not viral reservoirs.

Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2022.

Objective: To provide comprehensive epidemiological information about the distribution and occurrence of rabies during 2022 in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Methods: The US National Rabies Surveillance System collected 2022 animal rabies data from US state and territorial public health departments and USDA Wildlife Services. Temporal and geographic analyses were conducted to evaluate trends in animal rabies cases.

Rabies in an imported dog, Ontario, 2021.

In July 2021, a dog was imported into Canada from Iran and subsequently developed clinical signs of rabies within 11 days of arrival. Following laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis of rabies, local, provincial and federal inter-agency collaboration was required to complete contact tracing to identify all persons and domestic animals that may have been exposed to the rabid dog during the potential virus shedding period. This case highlights the risks of importing animals from known canine rabies-endemic areas, identifies gaps in current dog importation policies that pose potential risk to human and animal health and prompts ongoing vigilance for this deadly disease among human and animal health partners, as well as members of the public who adopt imported dogs.

Assessing the extent and public health impact of bat predation by domestic animals using data from a rabies passive surveillance program.

Domestic animals can serve as consequential conveyors of zoonotic pathogens across wildlife-human interfaces. Still, there has been little study on how different domestic species and their behaviors influence the zoonotic risk to humans. In this study, we examined patterns of bat encounters with domestic animals that resulted in submission for testing at the rabies laboratories of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) during 2014-2020.

Raccoon rabies control and elimination in the northeastern U.S. and southern Québec, Canada.

Rabies virus (RABV) is a deadly zoonosis that circulates in wild carnivore populations in North America. Intensive management within the USA and Canada has been conducted to control the spread of the raccoon () variant of RABV and work towards elimination. We examined RABV occurrence across the northeastern USA and southeastern Québec, Canada during 2008–2018 using a multi-method, dynamic occupancy model.

Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2021.

Objective: To provide epidemiological information on the occurrence of animal and human rabies in the US during 2021 and summaries of 2021 rabies surveillance for Canada and Mexico.

Procedures: State and territorial public health departments and USDA Wildlife Services provided data on animals submitted for rabies testing in 2021. Data were analyzed temporally and geographically to assess trends in domestic animal and wildlife rabies cases.

Rabies in an imported dog, Ontario, Canada, 2022.

Importation of rabies-infected dogs results in significant and costly public and animal health risks. In January 2022, a dog in Ontario, Canada, which was imported from Iran in June 2021, developed rabies, leading to an extensive public health investigation and administration of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis to 37 individuals. The dog was infected with a rabies virus variant known to circulate in Iran.

Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2020.

Objective: To provide epidemiological information on animal and human cases of rabies in the US during 2020 and summaries of 2020 rabies surveillance for Canada and Mexico.

Animals: All animals submitted for laboratory diagnosis of rabies in the US during 2020.

Procedures: State and territorial public health departments and USDA Wildlife Services provided 2020 rabies surveillance data.

Evidence of Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus) Survival Following Exposure to Rabies Virus.

The arctic fox variant of the rabies virus (RABV) is enzootic in the circumpolar north. Reports of abortive RABV exposures motivated a retrospective analysis of sera from 41 arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) captured at Karrak Lake in Nunavut, Canada, during 2011-15. Estimated RABV antibody prevalence among foxes was 15% (95% confidence interval, 7-28%).

Ecology of Arctic rabies: 60 years of disease surveillance in the warming climate of northern Canada.

Rabies occurs throughout the Arctic, representing an ongoing public health concern for residents of northern communities. The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) is the main reservoir of the Arctic rabies virus variant, yet little is known about the epidemiology of Arctic rabies, such as the ecological mechanisms driving where and when epizootics in fox populations occur. In this study, we provide the first portrait of the spatio-temporal spread of rabies across northern Canada.

Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2019.

Objective: To provide epidemiological information on animal and human cases of rabies occurring in the United States during 2019 and summaries of 2019 rabies surveillance for Canada and Mexico.

Animals: All animals submitted for laboratory diagnosis of rabies in the United States during 2019.

Procedures: State and territorial public health departments and USDA Wildlife Services provided data on animals submitted for rabies testing in the United States during 2019.

Prioritisation of areas for early detection of southward movement of arctic fox rabies based on historical surveillance data in Quebec, Canada.

Arctic rabies virus variant (ARVV) is enzootic in Quebec (Canada) north of the 55th parallel. With climate change, increased risk of re-incursion of ARVV in more densely populated southern regions raises public and animal health concerns. The objective of this study was to prioritise geographical areas to target for an early detection of ARVV incursion south of the 55th parallel based on the historical spatio-temporal trends of reported rabies in foxes in Quebec.

Rabies virus infection in a 21-year-old male presenting with ascending paralysis after a bat scratch.

A 21-year-old, previously healthy male presented to hospital following 1 week of bilateral asymmetric ascending paralysis, odynophagia, and dysphagia. Initial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine revealed an abnormal increased T2 signal with predominant dorsal column involvement and sparing of white matter throughout the cervical cord and extending to T5. The initial presumptive diagnosis was an acute infectious, versus inflammatory, myelitis.

A long-distance translocation initiated an outbreak of raccoon rabies in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Despite proactive measures to prevent raccoon rabies entering Canada from the United States, several incursions of this disease have occurred. The largest outbreak, first reported in December 2015 in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, has resulted in the reporting of 449 animal cases as of December 31, 2018. Initial phylogenetic studies on the index case suggested that this outbreak was not due to local cross-border spread from the Niagara region of the United States where raccoon rabies has persisted for several years.

Further Evidence of Inadequate Quality in Lateral Flow Devices Commercially Offered for the Diagnosis of Rabies.

As a neglected zoonotic disease, rabies causes approximately 5.9 × 10 human deaths annually, primarily affecting low- and middle-income countries in Asia and Africa. In those regions, insufficient surveillance is hampering adequate medical intervention and is driving the vicious cycle of neglect.

Public Veterinary Medicine: Public Health: Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2018.

Objective: To describe rabies and rabies-related events occurring during 2018 in the United States.

Animals: All animals submitted for laboratory diagnosis of rabies in the United States during 2018.

Procedures: State and territorial public health departments provided data on animals submitted for rabies testing in 2018.

Origins of the arctic fox variant rabies viruses responsible for recent cases of the disease in southern Ontario.

A subpopulation of the arctic fox lineage of rabies virus has circulated extensively in red fox populations of Ontario, Canada, between the 1960s and 1990s. An intensive wildlife rabies control program, in which field operations were initiated in 1989, resulted in elimination of the disease in eastern Ontario. However in southwestern Ontario, as numbers of rabid foxes declined the proportion of skunks confirmed to be infected with this rabies virus variant increased and concerted control efforts targeting this species were employed to eliminate the disease.

ONRAB® oral rabies vaccine is shed from, but does not persist in, captive mammals.

ONRAB® is a human adenovirus rabies glycoprotein recombinant vaccine developed to control rabies in wildlife. To support licensing and widespread use of the vaccine, safety studies are needed to assess its potential residual impact on wildlife populations. We examined the persistence of the ONRAB® vaccine virus in captive rabies vector and non-target mammals.

Raccoon rabies outbreak in Hamilton, Ontario: A progress report.

Background: Raccoon rabies is caused by a variant of the rabies virus found in raccoons but transmissible to other mammalian species, including humans. The disease of rabies caused by raccoon variant rabies virus is indistinguishable from rabies caused by other rabies virus variants.

Objective: This paper describes the raccoon rabies outbreak in Ontario (identified in December 2015) and the control measures undertaken to curb the spread of the epizootic using the One Health approach.

Rabies control in North America - past, present and future.

In the first half of the 20th century, rabies in dogs affected Canada, Mexico and the United States of America (USA). However, the role of wildlife in the transmission of the rabies virus was also recognised and outbreaks affecting both wildlife and domestic animals were documented. Canine rabies has since been eliminated from Canada and the USA, and is now only found sporadically in a few southern states of Mexico.

In-depth genome analyses of viruses from vaccine-derived rabies cases and corresponding live-attenuated oral rabies vaccines.

Live-attenuated rabies virus strains such as those derived from the field isolate Street Alabama Dufferin (SAD) have been used extensively and very effectively as oral rabies vaccines for the control of fox rabies in both Europe and Canada. Although these vaccines are safe, some cases of vaccine-derived rabies have been detected during rabies surveillance accompanying these campaigns. In recent analysis it was shown that some commercial SAD vaccines consist of diverse viral populations, rather than clonal genotypes.

Incorporating Direct Rapid Immunohistochemical Testing into Large-Scale Wildlife Rabies Surveillance.

Following an incursion of the mid-Atlantic raccoon variant of the rabies virus into southern Ontario, Canada, in late 2015, the direct rapid immunohistochemical test for rabies (dRIT) was employed on a large scale to establish the outbreak perimeter and to diagnose specific cases to inform rabies control management actions. In a 17-month period, 5800 wildlife carcasses were tested using the dRIT, of which 307 were identified as rabid. When compared with the gold standard fluorescent antibody test (FAT), the dRIT was found to have a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 98.