Estimation of dog population and dog bite risk factors in departments of San Pedro and Bouake in Côte d'Ivoire

Abstract

Rabies is endemic in Côte d'Ivoire and was identified in January 2017 as a priority zoonosis by all stakeholders in public health. A well-designed integrated national rabies control is essential to attain the objective of zero human deaths from dog rabies by 2030. The current study describes the complementary elements of dog bite risk factors and the dog population estimate that are relevant for planning sustainable interventions.We conducted a transverse survey in 8′004 households in the departments of San Pedro (4′002) and Bouaké (4′002), covering both rural and urban areas. The doghousehold ratio was estimated at one dog for three households (0.33) or one dog for 20 people (0.05).The owned canine population on a national level was estimated at 1′400'654 dogs (range 1′276'331 to 1′535'681). The main dog bite risk factors were dog ownership, being male, and living in urban San Pedro Department.The results lay a foundation for public engagement and further steps for mass vaccination of the household dog population to reach vaccination coverage of at least 80%. Stakeholders further recommend raising awareness of dog owners, reinforcing knowledge in school children and young boys, and behavior changes towards domestic animals.

Revista de la Universidad del Zulia, Volumen 12, Número 33

“…Taking into account that the annual canine rabies vaccination campaigns confer extraordinary value and dramatically reduce the health burden of rabies (Fitzpatrick et al, 2014;Hampson et al, 2009), vaccination is carried out annually in the province of Chucuito, the percentage of dogs vaccinated during the years evaluated varied greatly based on the estimated dog population, coinciding with that reported by Freire de Carvalho et al, (2018), keeping in the sustained safety range of 70-80% (Bourhy et al, 2008;Kuzmin et al, 2012;MINSA, 2006MINSA, , 2017; OIE, 2015;Sánchez-Soriano et al, 2020;Schneider et al, 2011;World Health Organization, 2013;Zinsstag et al, 2009), with the exception of the years 2007 to 2010, with the lowest coverage (table 2 and figure 9), but still well above the vaccination coverage reported by Kallo et al, (2020); coinciding with the efforts of LAC countries to maintain sustained efforts in the area of dog vaccination by providing an understanding of the baseline effort required to reduce the incidence of dog-mediated rabies (Freire de Carvalho et al, 2018), considering, that infection can be eliminated at source through sustained mass vaccination of reservoir populations (Hampson et al, 2009), doing mass vaccination should aim for coverage as high as possible (Zinsstag et al, 2009). Galán Torres (2012) recommends that the vaccination schedule should be unique, such recommendation in the country and the Puno region should be adopted in order to achieve more adequate coverage.…”

Evaluation of the behavior of rabies main indicators in the province of Chucuito, Puno, Peru

“…Taking into account that the annual canine rabies vaccination campaigns confer extraordinary value and dramatically reduce the health burden of rabies (Fitzpatrick et al, 2014;Hampson et al, 2009), vaccination is carried out annually in the province of Chucuito, the percentage of dogs vaccinated during the years evaluated varied greatly based on the estimated dog population, coinciding with that reported by Freire de Carvalho et al, (2018), keeping in the sustained safety range of 70-80% (Bourhy et al, 2008;Kuzmin et al, 2012;MINSA, 2006MINSA, , 2017 Sánchez-Soriano et al, 2020;Schneider et al, 2011;World Health Organization, 2013;Zinsstag et al, 2009), with the exception of the years 2007 to 2010, with the lowest coverage (table 2 and figure 9), but still well above the vaccination coverage reported by Kallo et al, (2020); coinciding with the efforts of LAC countries to maintain sustained efforts in the area of dog vaccination by providing an understanding of the baseline effort required to reduce the incidence of dog-mediated rabies (Freire de Carvalho et al, 2018), considering, that infection can be eliminated at source through sustained mass vaccination of reservoir populations (Hampson et al, 2009), doing mass vaccination should aim for coverage as high as possible (Zinsstag et al, 2009). Galán Torres (2012) recommends that the vaccination schedule should be unique, such recommendation in the country and the Puno region should be adopted in order to achieve more adequate coverage.…”

Determinants of Rabies Post-exposure Prophylaxis Drop-Out in the Region of San-Pedro, Côte d'Ivoire

“…In Côte d'Ivoire, according to the National Institute of Public Hygiene (INHP), the number of people exposed to rabies per year is approximately 12,000. Nearly 50% of those who begin prophylactic treatment in vaccination centers do not complete it (Republic of Côte d'Ivoire INHP, 2019), while only 12% of the canine population is vaccinated (4). Official deaths from human rabies are around 20 people per year.…”

“…However, the major factor for treatment abandonment is "a lack of financial means" (7,8). In 2016, a strong partnership was formed through the Rage-GAVI project to estimate the burden of rabies in Côte d'Ivoire (4) The research to estimate rabies cases was carried out in the areas of Bouaké and San-Pedro, two cities with a high rabies burden (4,8,9). At the time, the Zagreb and Essen treatment protocols were in use.…”