Rabies - Bulletin - Europe

WHO Collaborating Centre for Rabies Surveillance & Research

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Australia - Policy review of the rabies virus risk in imported dogs and cats

Many countries, including Australia, have reported increases in detected and suspected fraudulent certification and other documents associated with companion animal imports. Therefore, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (the department) has conducted a policy review of the rabies virus risk in imported dogs, cats and canine semen from approved countries.

Read more here: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/import/industry-advice/2023/06-2023

Vaccinating 3300 dogs against rabies in just 4 days

It is generally accpeted that oral rabies vaccination (ORV) is the most underused of all tools in the global fight against canine rabies. In an emergency vaccination in the Zambesi region of Namibia a team comprising of Namibian veterinarians and FLI rabies experts was able to vaccinate more than 3300 local free-roaming dogs in just 4 days exclusively using oral vaccine baits containing a 3rd generation oral rabies vaccine. The data obtained impressively underline the performance of this methodology under field conditions and call for large-scale implementation.

World Rabies Day 2022

Tomorrow is the most important day on the global rabies calendar. There will be numerous events around the world commemorating World Rabies Day that you can follow on the GARC website https://rabiesalliance.org/news/world-rabies-day-2022-theme-here. Please, keep in mind that you also can make a difference and safe the lives of tens of thousands of people dying every from this deadly disease that is entirely preventable by raising awareness and supporting national and international activities.

Establishment of core cells for a future Southern African Rabies Laboratories Network

Capacity building often initiates and catalyzes further countrywide efforts to implement national rabies control strategies. With the support and supervision of WOAH and under the leadership of two reference laboratories for rabies, the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (OVI), South Africa and the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), Germany, the establishment of two Southern African core cells of a future Southern African Rabies Laboratories Network has been launched recently.

Southern African rabies diagnostic workshop

In commemoration of the World Rabies Day, the WHO CC and the WOAH Reference Laboratory for Rabies at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Germany, together with the Botswana Veterinary Research Institute, Botswana, organised a workshop on rabies diagnosis, which took place in Gaborone from 20 to 22 September 2022. Participants from Zambia, Namibia, Angola and Botswana were trained on rabies surveillance, sampling methods, DFA and real-time PCR.

A novel human rabies vaccine tested in Tanzania

Since March this year, the University of Oxford, UK, and the Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania, are testing a novel human rabies vaccine to be used in a single dose regimen in a Phase Ib/II trial in Tanzania. It is based on the ChAdOx2 vector, a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) similar to the technology used successfully in the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

 

Rabieas in arctic foxes in the Canadian North raise public health concerns

Although rabies has always been present in circumpolar regions of the world, the disease is popping up this winter in Canada's north again, where rabid Arctic foxes are reported to have attacked people and pets. While health authorities are used to these ups and downs and are stepping up their public awareness campaigns for people living in the areas, scientists increasingly concerned that due to rapid climate change and invading red foxes the situation could change dramatically in the coming years. 

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