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. 2008 Nov;136(11):1556-63.
doi: 10.1017/S0950268807000131. Epub 2008 Jan 4.

Inferior rabies vaccine quality and low immunization coverage in dogs ( Canis familiaris) in China

R L Hu  1 , A R Fooks, S F Zhang, Y Liu, F Zhang
Affiliations

Inferior rabies vaccine quality and low immunization coverage in dogs ( Canis familiaris) in China

R L Hu et al. Epidemiol Infect. 2008 Nov.

Abstract

Human rabies in China continues to increase exponentially, largely due to an inadequate veterinary infrastructure and poor vaccine coverage of naive dogs. We performed an epidemiological survey of rabies both in humans and animals, examined vaccine quality for animal use, evaluated the vaccination coverage in dogs, and checked the dog samples for the presence of rabies virus. The lack of surveillance in dog rabies, together with the low immunization coverage (up to 2.8% in rural areas) and the high percentage of rabies virus prevalence (up to 6.4%) in dogs, suggests that the dog population is a continual threat for rabies transmission from dogs to humans in China. Results also indicated that the quality of rabies vaccines for animal use did not satisfy all of the requirements for an efficacious vaccine capable of fully eliminating rabies. These data suggest that the factors noted above are highly correlated with the high incidence of human rabies in China.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Annual cases of human rabies deaths in China (1996–2006).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Human rabies cases in China (January to April). –◆–, 2006; –■–, 2007.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Comparison of the neutralizing antibody levels between the two commercial live vaccines and the two (one inactivated, one live) positive controls. Vac.1, A live rabies vaccine combined with other vaccines; Vac.2, a live vaccine containing rabies virus alone as indicated by the label; Inact.Vac.Ctrl, an imported rabies vaccine; LiveVac.Ctrl, a live vaccine manufactured in our own laboratory. The neutralizing antibody was assayed 2 weeks after the vaccination, which is similar to that in vaccine efficacy assay in vaccine manufacture.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The assay of efficacy (TCID50) of two commercial vaccines and a laboratory-produced live vaccine on cells. Vac.1, The TCID50 of a live rabies vaccine combined with other canine vaccines; Vac.2, the TCID50 of a live vaccine containing rabies virus alone; Vac.Ctrl, the TCID50 of a live vaccine manufactured in our own laboratory.
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References

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