title: Livestock rabies outbreaks in Shanxi province, China.
abstract: Dogs play an important role in rabies transmission throughout the world. In addition to the severe human rabies situation in China, spillover of rabies virus from dogs in recent years has caused rabies outbreaks in sheep, cattle and pigs, showing that there is an increasing threat to other domestic animals. Two livestock rabies outbreaks were caused by dogs in Shanxi province, China from April to October in 2015, resulting in the deaths of 60 sheep, 10 cattle and one donkey. Brain samples from one infected bovine and the donkey were determined to be rabies virus (RABV) positive by fluorescent antibody test (FAT) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The complete RABV N genes of the two field strains, together with those of two previously confirmed Shanxi dog strains, were amplified, sequenced and compared phylogenetically with published sequences of the N gene of RABV strains from Shanxi and surrounding provinces. All of the strains from Shanxi province grouped closely, sharing 99.6 %-100 % sequence identity, indicating the wide distribution and transmission of dog-mediated rabies in these areas. This is the first description of donkey rabies symptoms with phylogenetic analysis of RABVs in Shanxi province and surrounding regions. The result emphasizes the need for mandatory dog rabies vaccination and improved public education to eradicate dog rabies transmission.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Military Veterinary, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Changchun, 130122, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Animal Health Inspection Institute of Jingle County, Xinzhou, 036700, Shanxi, China.
authors.forename: Yanyan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Military Veterinary, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Changchun, 130122, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Mingyang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Military Veterinary, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Changchun, 130122, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Weidi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Military Veterinary, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Changchun, 130122, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Military Veterinary, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Changchun, 130122, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Zhongzhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.affiliation: Animal Health Inspection Institute of Ningwu County, Xinzhou, 035100, Shanxi, China.
authors.forename: Laixi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Institute of Military Veterinary, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Changchun, 130122, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Institute of Military Veterinary, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Changchun, 130122, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Huancheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Military Veterinary, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Changchun, 130122, Jilin, China. changchun_tu@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Changchun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000821:virology; D002417:Cattle; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D018397:Equidae; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D058751:Livestock; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D011818:Rabies / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D012756:Sheep
chemical_list: D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins; C099601:nucleocapsid protein, Rabies virus