Prevalence of rabies virus infection and rabies antibody in stray dogs: a survey in Bangkok, Thailand.
To investigate the rabies antigen and antibody prevalences among stray dogs in Bangkok, Thailand, we took both a saliva and serum sample from each of 3314 stray dogs captured once each between December 2003 and June 2004. One 2-year-old female was antigen positive in the latex-agglutination test and confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The overall antibody seroprevalence from the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that we used was 62% (95% CI: 54, 70%). Antibody seroprevalence was greater for dogs captured within central Bangkok (86% of 1208 dogs captured) than in the dogs captured in the outskirts of the greater metropolitan area (49% of 2106 dogs captured). If our samples of stray dogs are representative, then the seroprevalence achieved from previous vaccination campaigns is too low to protect the dog and human populations.
Kasempimolporn
S
S
Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute (WHO Collaborating Center for Research on Rabies), Thai Red Cross Society, 1871 Rama IV Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. songsri_k@webmail.redcross.or.th
Sichanasai
B
B
Saengseesom
W
W
Puempumpanich
S
S
Chatraporn
S
S
Sitprija
V
V
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000821:virology; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004285:Dogs; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D011818:Rabies / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011819:Rabies Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000276:immunology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000821:virology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D011819:Rabies Vaccines