1
|
Malan AJ, Coetzer A, Bosch C, Wright N, Nel LH. A Perspective of the Epidemiology of Rabies in South Africa, 1998-2019. Trop Med Infect Dis 2024; 9:122. [PMID: 38922034 PMCID: PMC11209162 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed9060122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2024] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Despite the implementation of various control strategies aimed at eliminating canine-mediated rabies, the disease is still endemic in up to 150 countries across the world. Rabies remains endemic to South Africa, with various reservoir species (both wildlife species and domestic dogs) capable of maintaining rabies infection, and the epidemiology of the disease is yet to be adequately defined. As such, this study used surveillance data collected between 1998 and 2019 from the two diagnostic laboratories in the country for a statistical space-time analysis to determine regions where significant disease clusters could occur. In addition, the robustness of surveillance activities across the country was evaluated through the mathematical evaluation and visualization of testing rates based on the average number of samples tested per species group. In our study, various significant disease clusters were detected for domestic animals, wildlife and livestock. The significant disease clusters for domestic animals and livestock were primarily restricted to eastern South Africa, while the significant disease clusters in wildlife species were detected across northern and western South Africa. Furthermore, the testing rates identified districts from various provinces where surveillance activities could be considered inadequate, consequently influencing the geographical range of the observed clusters. These results could be used to direct intervention campaigns towards high-risk areas, while also allocating the required resources to improve surveillance in the surrounding areas where surveillance was deemed inadequate.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ayla J. Malan
- Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - Andre Coetzer
- Global Alliance for Rabies Control, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA
| | - Cayla Bosch
- Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - Nicolette Wright
- Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - Louis H. Nel
- Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
- Global Alliance for Rabies Control, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Mogano K, Sabeta CT, Suzuki T, Makita K, Chirima GJ. Patterns of Animal Rabies Prevalence in Northern South Africa between 1998 and 2022. Trop Med Infect Dis 2024; 9:27. [PMID: 38276638 PMCID: PMC10819520 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed9010027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Rabies is endemic in South Africa and rabies cycles are maintained in both domestic and wildlife species. The significant number of canine rabies cases reported by the World Organization for Animal Health Reference Laboratory for Rabies at Onderstepoort suggests the need for increased research and mass dog vaccinations on specific targeted foci in the country. This study aimed to investigate the spatiotemporal distribution of animal rabies cases from 1998 to 2017 in northern South Africa and environmental factors associated with highly enzootic municipalities. A descriptive analysis was used to investigate temporal patterns. The Getis-Ord Gi statistical tool was used to exhibit low and high clusters. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between the predictor variables and highly enzootic municipalities. A total of 9580 specimens were submitted for rabies diagnosis between 1998 and 2022. The highest positive case rates were from companion animals (1733 cases, 59.71%), followed by livestock (635 cases, 21.88%) and wildlife (621 cases, 21.39%). Rabies cases were reported throughout the year, with the majority occurring in the mid-dry season. Hot spots were frequently in the northern and eastern parts of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Thicket bush and grassland were associated with rabies between 1998 and 2002. However, between 2008 and 2012, cultivated commercial crops and waterbodies were associated with rabies occurrence. In the last period, plantations and woodlands were associated with animal rabies. Of the total number of municipalities, five consistently and repeatedly had the highest rabies prevalence rates. These findings suggest that authorities should prioritize resources for those municipalities for rabies elimination and management.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kgaogelo Mogano
- Agricultural Research Council, GeoInformatics Division, Natural Resources and Engineering, 600 Belvedere St., Pretoria 0083, South Africa
- Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0028, South Africa
| | - Claude Taurai Sabeta
- Veterinary Tropical Diseases Department, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0110, South Africa
- World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Rabies Reference Laboratory, Agricultural Research Council (Onderstepoort Veterinary Research), Onderstepoort, Pretoria 0110, South Africa
| | - Toru Suzuki
- Department of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Rakuno Gakuen University, Ebetsu 069-8501, Japan
| | - Kohei Makita
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, Ebetsu 069-8501, Japan
| | - George Johannes Chirima
- Agricultural Research Council, GeoInformatics Division, Natural Resources and Engineering, 600 Belvedere St., Pretoria 0083, South Africa
- Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0028, South Africa
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Rupprecht CE, Mshelbwala PP, Reeves RG, Kuzmin IV. Rabies in a postpandemic world: resilient reservoirs, redoubtable riposte, recurrent roadblocks, and resolute recidivism. ANIMAL DISEASES 2023; 3:15. [PMID: 37252063 PMCID: PMC10195671 DOI: 10.1186/s44149-023-00078-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Rabies is an ancient disease. Two centuries since Pasteur, fundamental progress occurred in virology, vaccinology, and diagnostics-and an understanding of pathobiology and epizootiology of rabies in testament to One Health-before common terminological coinage. Prevention, control, selective elimination, and even the unthinkable-occasional treatment-of this zoonosis dawned by the twenty-first century. However, in contrast to smallpox and rinderpest, eradication is a wishful misnomer applied to rabies, particularly post-COVID-19 pandemic. Reasons are minion. Polyhostality encompasses bats and mesocarnivores, but other mammals represent a diverse spectrum of potential hosts. While rabies virus is the classical member of the genus, other species of lyssaviruses also cause the disease. Some reservoirs remain cryptic. Although global, this viral encephalitis is untreatable and often ignored. As with other neglected diseases, laboratory-based surveillance falls short of the notifiable ideal, especially in lower- and middle-income countries. Calculation of actual burden defaults to a flux within broad health economic models. Competing priorities, lack of defined, long-term international donors, and shrinking local champions challenge human prophylaxis and mass dog vaccination toward targets of 2030 for even canine rabies impacts. For prevention, all licensed vaccines are delivered to the individual, whether parenteral or oral-essentially 'one and done'. Exploiting mammalian social behaviors, future 'spreadable vaccines' might increase the proportion of immunized hosts per unit effort. However, the release of replication-competent, genetically modified organisms selectively engineered to spread intentionally throughout a population raises significant biological, ethical, and regulatory issues in need of broader, transdisciplinary discourse. How this rather curious idea will evolve toward actual unconventional prevention, control, or elimination in the near term remains debatable. In the interim, more precise terminology and realistic expectations serve as the norm for diverse, collective constituents to maintain progress in the field.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Charles E. Rupprecht
- College of Forestry, Wildlife & Environment, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849 USA
| | - Philip P. Mshelbwala
- School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, Australia
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria
| | - R. Guy Reeves
- Max Planck Institut Für Evolutionsbiologie, 24306 Plön, Germany
| | - Ivan V. Kuzmin
- Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555 USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Mohale DK, Ngoepe E, Mparamoto M, Blumberg L, Sabeta CT. A Case Report on a Human Bite Contact with a Rabid Honey Badger Mellivora capensis (Kromdraai Area, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa). Trop Med Infect Dis 2023; 8:tropicalmed8040186. [PMID: 37104312 PMCID: PMC10144041 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed8040186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023] Open
Abstract
In South Africa, rabies cycles are sustained by both domestic and wildlife host species. Despite the fact that the majority of human rabies cases are associated with dog bite exposures, wildlife species can potentially transmit rabies virus (RABV) infection to humans. In July 2021, a honey badger (Mellivora capensis) from the Kromdraai area (Gauteng Province) bit a dog on a small farm. The following day the same honey badger attacked three adults in the area, with one of the victims requiring hospitalization for management of her injuries. The honey badger was subsequently shot and the carcass submitted to the Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research (ARC-OVR) for RABV diagnosis. A positive rabies diagnosis was confirmed and phylogenetic analysis of the amplified glycoprotein gene of the rabies virus demonstrated the virus to be of dog origin.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Debrah Kgwana Mohale
- World Organisation for Animal Health Rabies Reference Laboratory, Agricultural Research Council, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Onderstepoort, Pretoria 0110, Gauteng, South Africa
| | - Ernest Ngoepe
- World Organisation for Animal Health Rabies Reference Laboratory, Agricultural Research Council, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Onderstepoort, Pretoria 0110, Gauteng, South Africa
| | - Munangatire Mparamoto
- World Organisation for Animal Health Rabies Reference Laboratory, Agricultural Research Council, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Onderstepoort, Pretoria 0110, Gauteng, South Africa
| | - Lucille Blumberg
- Division for Outbreak Preparedness and Response and the Centre for Emerging, Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Communicable Diseases, 1 Modderfontein Road, Johannesburg 2192, Gauteng, South Africa
- Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, Pretoria 0110, Gauteng, South Africa
| | - Claude Taurai Sabeta
- World Organisation for Animal Health Rabies Reference Laboratory, Agricultural Research Council, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Onderstepoort, Pretoria 0110, Gauteng, South Africa
- Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, Pretoria 0110, Gauteng, South Africa
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Rabies Virus Seroprevalence among Dogs in Limpopo National Park and the Phylogenetic Analyses of Rabies Viruses in Mozambique. Pathogens 2022; 11:pathogens11091043. [PMID: 36145475 PMCID: PMC9506193 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11091043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Revised: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Rabies is considered a neglected disease among many developing Asian and African countries, including Mozambique, where its re-emergence is often attributed to low dog parenteral vaccination coverage. The objectives of this study were two-fold: (1) to assess the level of antibodies against rabies virus in dogs (n = 418) in Limpopo National Park (LNP), and (2) to genetically characterise selected rabies viruses from brain tissue samples collected in 2017 and 2018. To meet the first objective, we used the BioProTM Rabies blocking ELISA antibody kit, and the results were expressed as the percentage of blocking (%PB). Dog sera with PB ≥ 40% were considered positive for antibodies to rabies virus, whereas sera with PB < 40% were negative. Just under ninety percent (89.2%; n = 373) of dogs were seronegative, and the rest (10.8%; n = 45) had detectable levels of rabies virus-specific antibodies. All eight brain tissue samples were positive for rabies virus antigen using a direct fluorescent antibody test and amplified in a quantitative real-time PCR, but only five (n = 4 from dogs and n = 1 from a cat) were amplified in a conventional reverse-transcription PCR targeting partial regions of the nucleoprotein (N) and the glycoprotein (G) genes. All samples were successfully sequenced. Phylogenetically, the rabies viruses were all of dog origin and were very closely related to each other (Africa 1b rabies virus lineage). Furthermore, the sequences had a common progenitor with other rabies viruses from southern Africa, confirming the transboundary nature of rabies and the pivotal role of dogs in maintaining rabies cycles. The study demonstrates the principal application of the BioProTM rabies ELISA antibody for the detection of anti-lyssavirus-specific antibodies in the serum samples of dogs, and most importantly, it highlights the low levels of antibodies against rabies virus in this dog population.
Collapse
|