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Canine vaccine aids in rabies control for Chinese livestock; other vaccines still necessary
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Canine inactivated vaccine administered in multiple doses to cattle and camels in China provided rabies protection for up to 1 year; however, oral vaccines for stray dogs and foxes should be a development priority, according to study findings published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
“In northwestern China, rabies transmitted by stray dogs and wild foxes has caused heavy economic losses to local herdsmen following infection of domestic animals such as cattle, camels, goats and horses, yet providing preventive vaccination to the herds and/or reservoirs in these regions could prevent these losses,” Rong-Liang Hu, PhD, of the epidemiology laboratory at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences in Changchun, and colleagues wrote. “However, in China, as well as lacking an oral vaccine for the control of rabies in stray dogs and wild animals, no veterinary rabies vaccine has so far been developed or imported for domestic animals except owned dogs.”
To address the growing incidence of rabies in northwestern China and to examine the intensity of inactivated canine vaccine in cattle and camels, the researchers intramuscularly injected 300 adult cattle (270 beef cattle and 30 dairy cows) and 330 bactrian camels after recent local rabies exposure. The animals were randomly assigned into nine groups and immunized with a single injection of one, two or three doses of canine vaccine. Hu and colleagues collected blood samples from 45 cattle and 30 camels at baseline and 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after vaccination.
Serum analysis demonstrated a disparity between positive protective immune response in livestock who received one dose vs. those given two or three doses. Those that received the multi-dose vaccination showed high antibody titers, indicative of rabies protection, at 1 year.
While those results are encouraging and may help China to reach its 2025 goal of national rabies elimination, Hu and colleagues strongly recommended the prompt development and implementation of an oral rabies vaccine for wild dogs and foxes to prevent infection in livestock.
“Licensed vaccines for large domestic animals are still needed for use in pasture farms in China,” the researchers wrote. “Clearly, wild foxes and domestic animals should be considered for pre-exposure vaccination, not only to avoid financial losses or protection of wild animals, but because of their potential threat to human health.” – by Kate Sherrer
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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