Rabies in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa - where are we going wrong?

Sittert, S.J. van; Raath, Jacobus P.; Akol, G.W.; Miyen, Jacobeth; Mlahlwa, B.; Sabeta, Claude

doi:10.4102/jsava.v81i4.149

Cited by 16 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(53 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As seen in other canine studies, this study showed that male dogs out number females with a sex ratio of 1.5:1. This is in close agreement with the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa where the ratio was 1.7:1 as well as urban Madagascar 1.5:1 [ 42 , 43 ]. Tanzania and Zimbabwe have reported ratios of 1.3:1 [ 31 , 34 ].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

“…We found that more than 60% of the owned dog population was 3 years of age or younger, indicating a high population turnover. Similar numbers were reported from a local municipality in the Eastern Cape Province where they found 64% of the dogs were 3 years of age or younger [ 42 ]. This is close to the mean age of 2.6 years found by in rural Bophuthatswana, South Africa [ 44 ], with 2.8 years reported from Kenya [ 13 ] and 2.6 years from the Thungsong District of Thailand [ 45 ].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

“…It is possible that many scavenging dogs in this study were owned since 62% of owned dogs were allowed to roam for scavenging and socialization at all times. Over 70% of the owned dogs in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and 79% of owned dogs in Antananarivo, Madagascar were reported as being allowed to roam freely [ 42 , 43 ]. Only 17% of KZN dogs were reported as always restricted to the yard and another 20% were only chained for part of the day.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Characteristics of owned dogs in rabies endemic KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa

Hergert¹,

Roux²,

Nel³

2018

BMC Vet Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundCanine rabies has been enzootic in the dog population of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa since the mid-1970s and has been associated with high rates of human exposures and frequent transmissions to other domestic animal species. Several decades of control efforts, consisting primarily of mass vaccination programs, have previously failed to sufficiently curb rabies in the province. Despite this history of canine rabies, the target canine population has never been extensively studied or quantified. For efficient and effective vaccination campaign planning, the target population must be evaluated and understood. This study reports evaluated observations from survey records captured through a cross sectional observational study regarding canine populations and dog owners in rabies enzootic KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. The objective of this study was to aid government veterinary services in their current and ongoing efforts to eliminate canine rabies in the province by gaining information about the size and distribution of the owned dog population.ResultsThirty-eight percent of the households owned one or more dogs, with rural areas surveyed containing a significantly higher number of owned dogs than urban areas. The mean dog/person ratio for this study was 1:7.7 (range 1:5.4–1:31). The provincial sex ratio was 1.5:1 male to female, with the percentages for male dogs across the communities ranging from 53 to 61.5%. The age structure of this dog population indicates a high turnover rate. Dogs were kept mostly for guarding homes or livestock. Eighty-four percent of dogs had received a rabies vaccine at some point in their lifetime, almost all during a rabies campaign.ConclusionsThe study indicates the majority of owned dogs can be handled by at least one member of the household, thus can be made readily accessible for rabies vaccination during a campaign. Characteristics of owned dogs in the province were similar to those studied in other African countries; however, there were remarkable differences in age, sex and husbandry practices compared to dogs in eastern or northern Africa. These geographical differences lend credence to the theory that canine populations are heterogeneous; therefore, target populations should be evaluated prior to intervention planning.

show abstract

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Characteristics of owned dogs in rabies endemic KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa

Hergert¹,

Roux²,

Nel³

2018

BMC Vet Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Studies accounting for ownership of dogs ( Table 1 ) showed that the percentage of ownerless dogs ranges between 0.7% and 20% of a dog population within the 11 represented African countries. Except for a study in Tanzania [ 24 ], all studies reported that more than two third of the free roaming dogs has a responsible owner[ 20 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Owned dogs with confined housing constitute 18.5% to 60.9% of the dog population.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review on Dog Rabies Vaccination Coverage in Africa: A Question of Dog Accessibility or Cost Recovery?

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundRabies still poses a significant human health problem throughout most of Africa, where the majority of the human cases results from dog bites. Mass dog vaccination is considered to be the most effective method to prevent rabies in humans. Our objective was to systematically review research articles on dog rabies parenteral vaccination coverage in Africa in relation to dog accessibility and vaccination cost recovery arrangement (i.e.free of charge or owner charged).Methodology/Principal FindingsA systematic literature search was made in the databases of CAB abstracts (EBSCOhost and OvidSP), Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Medline (EBSCOhost and OvidSP) and AJOL (African Journal Online) for peer reviewed articles on 1) rabies control, 2) dog rabies vaccination coverage and 3) dog demography in Africa. Identified articles were subsequently screened and selected using predefined selection criteria like year of publication (viz. ≥ 1990), type of study (cross sectional), objective(s) of the study (i.e. vaccination coverage rates, dog demographics and financial arrangements of vaccination costs), language of publication (English) and geographical focus (Africa). The selection process resulted in sixteen peer reviewed articles which were used to review dog demography and dog ownership status, and dog rabies vaccination coverage throughout Africa. The main review findings indicate that 1) the majority (up to 98.1%) of dogs in African countries are owned (and as such accessible), 2) puppies younger than 3 months of age constitute a considerable proportion (up to 30%) of the dog population and 3) male dogs are dominating in numbers (up to 3.6 times the female dog population). Dog rabies parenteral vaccination coverage was compared between “free of charge” and “owner charged” vaccination schemes by the technique of Meta-analysis. Results indicate that the rabies vaccination coverage following a free of charge vaccination scheme (68%) is closer to the World Health Organization recommended coverage rate (70%) than the achieved coverage rate in owner-charged dog rabies vaccination schemes (18%).Conclusions/SignificanceMost dogs in Africa are owned and accessible for parenteral vaccination against rabies if the campaign is performed “free of charge”.

show abstract

“…Canine-mediated human rabies kills approximately 60,000 people every year ( WHO 2013 , Hampson and others 2015 ). Mortality from rabies is highest in less developed communities in Asia and Africa where domestic dogs are free-roaming ( Ezeokoli and Umoh 1987 , Butler and Bingham 2000 , Kitala and others 2002 , Kayali and others 2003 , Windiyaningsih and others 2004 , Reece and Chawla 2006 , Kasempimolporn and others 2008 , WHO 2013 ); with increasing evidence that the majority are owned ( Ezeokoli and Umoh 1987 , Butler and Bingham 2000 , Estrada and others 2001 , Windiyaningsih and others 2004 , van Sittert and others 2010 , Gsell and others 2012 , Morters and others 2014b ) and, thus, generally accessible for vaccination ( Lembo and others 2010 , Knobel and others 2013 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effective vaccination against rabies in puppies in rabies endemic regions

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In rabies endemic regions, a proportionally higher incidence of rabies is often reported in dogs younger than 12 months of age, which includes puppies less than 3 months of age; this presents a serious risk to public health. The higher incidence of rabies in young dogs may be the effect of low vaccination coverage in this age class, partly as a result of the perception that immature immune systems and maternal antibodies inhibit seroconversion to rabies vaccine in puppies less than three months of age. Therefore, to test this perception, the authors report the virus neutralising antibody titres from 27 dogs that were vaccinated with high quality, inactivated rabies vaccine aged three months of age and under as part of larger serological studies undertaken in Gauteng Province, South Africa, and the Serengeti District, Tanzania. All of these dogs seroconverted to a single dose of vaccine with no adverse reactions reported and with postvaccinal peak titres ranging from 2.0 IU/ml to 90.5 IU/ml. In light of these results, and the risk of human beings contracting rabies from close contact with puppies, the authors recommend that all dogs in rabies endemic regions, including those less than three months of age, are vaccinated with high quality, inactivated vaccine.

show abstract

Rabies in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa - where are we going wrong?

Cited by 16 publications

References 26 publications

Characteristics of owned dogs in rabies endemic KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa

Characteristics of owned dogs in rabies endemic KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa

Review on Dog Rabies Vaccination Coverage in Africa: A Question of Dog Accessibility or Cost Recovery?

Effective vaccination against rabies in puppies in rabies endemic regions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About