The Importance of Wild Canids in the Epidemiology of Rabies in Northeast Brazil: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Rabies is an endemic disease in Brazil, where it is considered a serious public health problem. Although the number of human and dog-transmitted cases has declined in recent decades, rabies in wildlife has emerged considerably. Among the sylvatic animals, wild canids have been considered important hosts of the rabies virus. We performed a retrospective study of reported cases of rabies in wild canids and human victims in Ceará state (Northeast Brazil) during 2003 to 2013. Information was provided by governmental laboratories involved in rabies detection and by the Ministry of Health. From January 2003 to December 2013, a total of 11 931 animal samples were examined for rabies. Positivity were detected in 438 samples (3.67%), of which 229 (52.28%) were domestic animals, 105 (23.97%) wild canids and 104 (23.74%) other wild animals (bats, marmosets and raccoons). Approximately 33% of wild canids surveyed (n = 317) were positive for rabies. During the studied period, a total of 1923 attacks on humans by wild canids were registered. Males (n = 1405) were more affected than females (n = 520; 72.98% versus 27.01%), and the median age of all cases was 36.5 years. Injuries to individuals up to 19 years old corresponded to approximately 30% (n = 565) of all cases. Most of the victims lived in rural areas (72.46%; n = 1395), and the majority showed bites (81.13%; n = 1677) or scratches (12.23%; n = 253). Injuries were considered profound (52.1%; n = 1003), superficial (40.91; n = 788) or multiple with severe laceration (6.98%; n = 134). Only 1300 (67.53%) victims were enrolled for the complete rabies post-exposure prophylaxis scheme. Data from the present study confirm that wild canids are important hosts of rabies virus in northeastern Brazil and jeopardize rabies control in this area. Local authorities should focus their efforts in education of health professionals. In addition, strategies should be formulated to preserve wildlife.

Rabies surveillance in wild mammals in South of Brazil

“…The findings reported here are in agreement with previous studies performed in different biomes in Brazil, which demonstrated that wild animals have been exposed to RABV as indicated by detection of RABV antigens or RVNA identification (Antunes et al, ; Araujo et al, ; Cordeiro et al, ; Jorge et al, ; Rocha et al, ). In Brazil, from 2002 to 2012, the number of laboratorial confirmed cases of rabies, by direct fluorescent antibody test (DFAT) in terrestrial wild animals was 460 (Rocha et al, ).…”

“…As a consequence, knowledge on rabies circulation in wild animals remains limited to reports on specific regions of the country. In the Northeast, for instance, seropositive crab-eating foxes have been frequently identified; these, occasionally, have been implicated in the transmission of RABV to domestic dogs (Carnieli et al, 2008;Cordeiro et al, 2016). Seropositive capuchin monkeys and crab-eating foxes from the biome Atlantic Forest in the State of São Paulo (Almeida, Massad, Aguiar, Martorelli, & Joppert, 2001;Antunes et al, 2017;Araujo et al, 2014;Machado et al, 2012) and from the biomes Pantanal and Cerrado in the Midwest (Jorge et al, 2010) have also been described.…”

Atendimentos antirrábicos humanos pós-exposição: tendência temporal de sua prevalência no Ceará, de 2007 a 2015

“…Os dados epidemiológicos são essenciais tanto para os médicos, na decisão do tratamento profilático pós-exposição a ser instituído, como para os veterinários, na observação clínica e adoção de medidas relativas ao animal agressor. A vigilância epidemiológica é, portanto, fundamental para o controle da raiva 12 .…”

Re‐emergence of rabies virus maintained by canid populations in Paraguay

“…thous ) was identified as a reservoir and transmitter of an independent genetic variant derived from the variant maintained by dogs, which has also been isolated from raccoons ( Procyon cancrivorus ) and one case in human (Carnieli et al., ; Favoretto et al., ). A large annual number of cases of aggression and post‐exposure treatments in humans and cases registered in this animal species have been reported (Cordeiro et al., ). In 2015, an epidemic of dog rabies occurred in the midwestern region of Brazil due to AgV1 that originated in Bolivia (Brazil, Ministry of Health, ), supporting the importance of collaboration between countries for the control of infectious diseases.…”