Rabies Prevalence, Prevention and Clinical Features in Case of Developing Countries: Article Review

Abstract

Rabies is a viral disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS) of mammals and has an extremely high case fatality rate. It is widely distributed across the world, with only a few countries (mainly islands and peninsulas) that are free of the disease. It is a neglected disease of poor and vulnerable communities. Underreporting and not recording of cases made it unable to control.Africa and especially South East Asia and are the most common regions to be highly victims of dog bite rabies each year. Mostly young aged and rurals were commonly affected. All mammals are vulnerable to rabies, but only a limited number of species also act as reservoir hosts. They include members of the families Canidae (dogs, jackals, coyotes, wolves, foxes and raccoon dogs), Mustelidae (e.g., skunks), Viverridae (e.g., mongooses), and Procyonidae (raccoons), and the order Chiroptera (bats). Once clinical signs develop, there are very few survivors. Vaccines can protect pets, as well as people exposed to these animals, but the maintenance of rabies viruses in wildlife complicates control. In humans, illness can be prevented by administering anti-rabies antibodies and a series of vaccinations before the symptoms appear. However, people in impoverished countries do not always have access to effective post-exposure prophylaxis.In general, Domestic dogs serve as a major reservoir of rabies virus in many developing countries and are capable of maintaining virus transmission in a well-defined maintenance cycle. Cats are not known to act as maintenance reservoirs for unique rabies virus variants. They are important as incidental hosts affected by spillover and can serve as important in a chain of transmission of rabies virus to humans and other domestic animals. The only means to prevent rabies is ant rabies vaccination.

Keywords: Domestic animals, Dogs, Developing Countries, Epidemiology, Human rabies, Vaccine Prevention and Control