IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library
   

 

View printer friendly
Lembo, T.; Hampson, K.; Haydon, D.T.; Craft, M.; Dobson, A.; Dushoff, J.; Ernest, E.; Hoare, R.; Kaare, M.; Mlengeya, T.; Mentzel, C.; Cleaveland, S.
Exploring reservoir dynamics: a case study of rabies in the Serengeti ecosystem
2008  Journal of Applied Ecology (45): 1246-1257

1. Knowledge of infection reservoir dynamics is critical for effective disease control, but identifying reservoirs of multi-host pathogens is challenging. Here, we synthesize several lines of evidence to investigate rabies reservoirs in complex carnivore communities of the Serengeti ecological region in northwest Tanzania, where the disease has been confirmed in 12 carnivore species. 2. Long-term monitoring data suggest that rabies persists in high-density domestic dog _Canis familiaris _populations (> 11 dogs km -2 ) and occurs less frequently in lower-density (< 5 dogs km -2 ) populations and only sporadically in wild carnivores. 3. Genetic data show that a single rabies virus variant belonging to the group of southern Africa canid-associated viruses (Africa 1b) circulates among a range of species, with no evidence of species-specific virus-host associations. 4. Within-species transmission was more frequently inferred from high-resolution epidemiological data than between-species transmission. Incidence patterns indicate that spill-over of rabies from domestic dog populations sometimes initiates short-lived chains of transmission in other carnivores. 5. _Synthesis and applications _. The balance of evidence suggests that the reservoir of rabies in the Serengeti ecosystem is a complex multi-host community where domestic dogs are the only population essential for persistence, although other carnivores contribute to the reservoir as non-maintenance populations. Control programmes that target domestic dog populations should therefore have the greatest impact on reducing the risk of infection in all other species including humans, livestock and endangered wildlife populations, but transmission in other species may increase the level of vaccination coverage in domestic dog populations necessary to eliminate rabies.

PDF files are only accessible to Friends of the Cat Group. Joining Friends of the Cat Group gives you unlimited access and downloads in the Cat SG Library for one year, and allows you to receive our newsletter Cat News (2 regular issues per year plus special issues). More information how to join here

 

(c) IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group ( IUCN - The World Conservation Union)