title: Canine rabies epidemiology in Araçatuba and neighborhood, Northwestern São Paulo State-Brazil.
abstract: Epidemiological characteristics of canine rabies in the northwest region of São Paulo State (Araçatuba region), Brazil, from 1993 to 1997 are presented. Out of 1,984 dogs, a total of 351 (17.7%) were positive for rabies diagnosis; 89% (312/351) of these occurred in urban areas and 85% (266/312) of the urban positive cases were among owned dogs. The mean age of the rabid dogs was 34 months and 61% were male. Aggressive behavior was observed in 77% of rabid dogs, followed by lack of coordination and paralysis (42%) and 48% of these dogs were responsible biting people or other animals. Information about vaccination status was obtained from 182 records and 51% of rabid dogs were non-vaccinated. The number of unvaccinated rabid dogs indicates a low vaccination index and this factor added to the high dog/man ratio must have contributed to the canine rabies epizootic observed in the studied area.
authors.affiliation: Curso de Medicina Veterinária, Departamento de Apoio, Produção e Saude Animal, Universidade Estadual de São Paulo, Aracatuba, SP, Brazil. lhqsilva@fmva.unesp.br
authors.forename: Luzia Helena Queiroz
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: César Eduardo
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Bissoto
authors.forename: Adna Cleia B
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Delbem
authors.forename: Clara Isabel de Lucca
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: Sílvia Helena Venturoli
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Perri
authors.forename: Cáris Maroni
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Nunes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011818:Rabies / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D014505:Urban Population; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000662:veterinary