Reservoir dynamics of rabies in Southeast Tanzania and the roles of cross-species transmission and domestic dog vaccination
File(s)
Published Version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
1) Understanding the role of different species in the transmission of multi-host pathogens, such as rabies virus, is vital for effective control strategies. Across most of sub-Saharan Africa domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) are considered the reservoir for rabies, but the role of wildlife has been long debated. Here we explore the multi-host transmission dynamics of rabies across southeast Tanzania. 2) Between January 2011 and July 2019 data on probable rabies cases were collected in the regions of Lindi and Mtwara. Hospital records of animal-bite patients presenting to healthcare facilities were used as sentinels for animal contact tracing. The timing, location and species of probable rabid animals was used to reconstruct transmission trees to infer who infected whom and the relative frequencies of within-and between-species transmission. 3) During the study, 688 probable human rabies exposures were identified, resulting in 47 deaths. Of these exposures, 389 were from domestic dogs (56.5%) and 262 from jackals (38.1%). Over the same period 549 probable animal rabies cases were traced: 303 in domestic dogs (55.2%) and 221 in jackals (40.3%). 4) Although dog-to-dog transmission was most commonly inferred (40.5% of transmission events), a third of inferred events involved wildlife-to-wildlife transmission (32.6%) and evidence suggested some sustained transmission chains within jackal populations. 5) A steady decline in probable rabies cases in both humans and animals coincided with the implementation of widespread domestic dog vaccination during the first six years of the study. Following the lapse of this programme dog rabies cases began to increase in one of the northernmost districts. 6) Synthesis and applications: in southeast Tanzania, despite a relatively high incidence of rabies in wildlife and evidence of wildlife-to-wildlife transmission, domestic dogs remain essential to the reservoir of infection. Continued dog vaccination alongside improved surveillance would allow a fuller understanding of the role of wildlife in maintaining transmission in this area. Nonetheless, dog vaccination clearly suppressed rabies in both domestic dog and wildlife populations, reducing both public health and conservation risks and, if sustained, has potential to eliminate rabies from this region.
Date Issued
2021-11-12
Date Acceptance
2021-07-24
Citation
Journal of Applied Ecology, 2021, 58 (11), pp.2673-2685
ISSN
0021-8901
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
2673
End Page
2685
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Applied Ecology
Volume
58
Issue
11
Copyright Statement
© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Applied Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Grant Number
MR/R015600/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Biodiversity Conservation
Ecology
Biodiversity & Conservation
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
dog-mediated rabies
lyssavirus
One Health
spillover
surveillance
vaccination
zero by thirty
zoonoses
BLACK-BACKED JACKAL
BAT-EARED FOXES
WILDLIFE RABIES
EPIDEMIOLOGY
ZIMBABWE
0501 Ecological Applications
0502 Environmental Science and Management
0602 Ecology
Ecology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-08-31