title: Rabies in the Baltic States: Decoding a Process of Control and Elimination.
abstract: Rabies is a fatal zoonosis that still causes nearly 70, 000 human deaths every year. In Europe, the oral rabies vaccination (ORV) of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) was developed in the late 1970s and has demonstrated its effectiveness in the eradication of the disease in Western and some Central European countries. Following the accession of the three Baltic countries--Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania--to the European Union in 2004, subsequent financial support has allowed the implementation of regular ORV campaigns since 2005-2006. This paper reviews ten years of surveillance efforts and ORV campaigns in these countries resulting in the near eradication of the disease. The various factors that may have influenced the results of vaccination monitoring were assessed using generalized linear models (GLMs) on bait uptake and on herd immunity. As shown in previous studies, juveniles had lower bait uptake level than adults. For the first time, raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) were shown to have significantly lower bait uptake proportion compared with red foxes. This result suggests potentially altered ORV effectiveness in this invasive species compared to the red foxes. An extensive phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the North-East European (NEE) rabies phylogroup is endemic in all three Baltic countries. Although successive oral vaccination campaigns have substantially reduced the number of detected rabies cases, sporadic detection of the C lineage (European part of Russian phylogroup) underlines the risk of reintroduction via westward spread from bordering countries. Vaccine induced cases were also reported for the first time in non-target species (Martes martes and Meles meles).
authors: ANSES, Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, Bâtiment H, Technopôle Agricole et Vétérinaire, CS 40 009, Malzéville, France.
authors: Emmanuelle
authors: E
authors: Robardet
authors: ANSES, Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, Bâtiment H, Technopôle Agricole et Vétérinaire, CS 40 009, Malzéville, France.
authors: Evelyne
authors: E
authors: Picard-Meyer
authors: BIOR, Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment "BIOR", Riga, Latvia.
authors: Marianna
authors: M
authors: Dobroštana
authors: National Food and Veterinary Risk Assessment Institute of Lithuania, Vilnius, Lithuania.|Vilniaus Kolegija/University of Applied Sciences Faculty of Agrotechnologies, Buivydiškės, Vilnius district, Lithuania.
authors: Ingrida
authors: I
authors: Jaceviciene
authors: Estonian Veterinary and Food Laboratory, Tartu, Estonia.
authors: Katrin
authors: K
authors: Mähar
authors: BIOR, Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment "BIOR", Riga, Latvia.
authors: Zita
authors: Z
authors: Muižniece
authors: National Food and Veterinary Risk Assessment Institute of Lithuania, Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors: Gediminas
authors: G
authors: Pridotkas
authors: State Food and Veterinary Service, Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors: Marius
authors: M
authors: Masiulis
authors: Estonian Veterinary and Food Board, Tallin, Estonia.
authors: Enel
authors: E
authors: Niin
authors: BIOR, Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment "BIOR", Riga, Latvia.|Food and Veterinary Service, Riga, Latvia.
authors: Edvīns
authors: E
authors: Olševskis
authors: ANSES, Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, Bâtiment H, Technopôle Agricole et Vétérinaire, CS 40 009, Malzéville, France.
authors: Florence
authors: F
authors: Cliquet
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001454:Baltic States / Q000453:epidemiology; D004285:Dogs; D005589:Foxes; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D011818:Rabies / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D011819:Rabies Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D046031:Raccoon Dogs
chemical_list: D011819:Rabies Vaccines