title: Rabies seroprevalence of street dogs from São Paulo City, Brazil.
abstract: A sample of 602 street dogs captured by the São Paulo zoonosis-control municipal service was analyzed for the presence of serum antibodies against the rabies virus and compared to a control sample of 37 dogs from the kennel of the police of São Paulo. Data were stratified into 4 age intervals and the age from the street-dog sample was estimated by general aspects and dental observation according to standard techniques. We assumed that seropositivity was due to previous vaccination (no sub-clinical infection). From the prevalence data, we estimated the age-dependent incidence-density rate of vaccination by a simple mathematical model, which also allowed the estimation of the period of antibody protection given by the supposed vaccination. Crude seroprevalence in the street-dog sample was 16.5% and in the sample from the police-kennel dogs was 80%. The average age of first vaccination calculated for the street-dog sample was 5 years of age (if we assumed an average period of vaccine protection of 3 years) - but 5 months of age for the police-kennel sample.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and School of Medicine, The University of São Paulo, Av. Dr. Arnaldo 455, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Sallum
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Massad
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011818:Rabies / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014505:Urban Population; D014611:Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary