title: Re-emergence of rabies in the Guangxi province of Southern China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human rabies cases in the Guangxi province of China decreased from 839 in 1982 to 24 in 1995, but subsequently underwent a sharp increase, and has since maintained a high level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  3,040 brain samples from normal dogs and cats were collected from 14 districts of Guangxi and assessed by RT-PCR. The brain samples showed an average rabies virus (RV) positivity rate of 3.26%, but reached 4.71% for the period Apr 2002 to Dec 2003. A total of 30 isolates were obtained from normal dogs and 28 isolates from rabid animals by the mouse inoculation test (MIT). Six representative group I and II RV isolates showed an LD50 of 10-5.35/ml to 10-6.19/ml. The reactivity of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to group I and II RV isolates from the Guangxi major epidemic showed that eight anti-G MAbs showed strong reactivity with isolates of group I and II with titers of ≥10,000; however, the MAbs 9-6, 13-3 and 12-14 showed lower reactivity. Phylogenetic analysis based on the G gene demonstrated that the Guangxi RV isolates have similar topologies with strong bootstrap values and are closely bonded. Alignment of deduced amino acids revealed that the mature G protein has four substitutions A96S, L132F, N436S, and A447I specific to group I, and 13 substitutions T90M, Y168C, S204G, T249I, P253S, S289T, V332I, Q382H, V427I, L474P, R463K Q486H, and T487N specific to group II, coinciding with the phylogenetic analysis of the isolates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Re-emergence of human rabies has mainly occurred in rural areas of Guangxi since 1996. The human rabies incidence rate increased is related with RV positive rate of normal dogs. The Guangxi isolates tested showed a similar pathogenicity and antigenicity. The results of phylogenetic analysis coincide with that of alignment of deduced amino acids.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China; College of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Bo
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China; College of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Xian-Kai
authors.initials: XK
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China; College of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Zhuan-Ling
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Wu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Xia
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Lin-Juan
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Guangxi Center for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Lie-Feng
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Guangxi Center for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Minamoto
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China; College of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Guangxi University, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Ting Rong
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000821:virology; D002415:Cats; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004285:Dogs; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D010802:Phylogeny; D011818:Rabies / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011819:Rabies Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014611:Vaccination; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D011819:Rabies Vaccines