Vanaga Sanita, van der Heide Reina, Joffe Rafaels, van der Poel Wim H M
Department of Virology, National Veterinary Laboratory, Latvia.
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2003 Fall;3(3):117-24. doi: 10.1089/153036603768395816.
In the Baltic States, lyssaviruses are often detected in wildlife and presumed to constitute an important public health hazard. In order to decrease rabies incidence and eradicate wildlife reservoirs, a national rabies eradication program has been in place. Since 1970 a vaccination program in dogs and cats has been executed, and in 1991 oral vaccination of foxes was started. However, due to an insufficient budget, the latter was not done regularly and nationwide before 2000. Now, the program in force consists of compulsory vaccination of all dogs and cats, and a tetracycline marker vaccine oral vaccination program of foxes in the whole country. In 2001, 151 of 285 (53%) fox jaws were tested positive for tetracycline. All animals showing rabies-like symptoms were killed and tested for rabies. In this way, 250-400 cases of rabies per year were diagnosed in wildlife. To molecularly characterize the prevalent lyssaviruses in wildlife, lyssavirus RNA of 25 recent rabies positive samples, collected in the year 1999, was amplified by RT-PCR. Direct sequencing of the RT-PCR-amplified products of the virus' nucleoprotein encoding region and subsequent sequence analyses resulted in a 99.3-100% homology between isolates and a 99.0-100% similarity with a 1995 genotype I, classical rabies virus (RABV) raccoon dog isolate from Estonia. These results confirmed that RABV is endemic in wildlife in Latvia and should be considered a serious public health threat. To successfully eradicate the wildlife reservoirs, the national rabies eradication program must be continued, and it may need to be intensified.
在波罗的海国家，野生动物中经常检测到狂犬病病毒，据推测这构成了重大的公共卫生危害。为了降低狂犬病发病率并根除野生动物宿主，一项全国性的狂犬病根除计划已经实施。自1970年以来，一直在执行犬猫疫苗接种计划，1991年开始对狐狸进行口服疫苗接种。然而，由于预算不足，2000年之前后者并未在全国范围内定期开展。现在，现行计划包括对所有犬猫进行强制疫苗接种，以及在全国范围内对狐狸开展四环素标记疫苗口服接种计划。2001年，285个狐狸下颌中有151个（53%）经检测四环素呈阳性。所有表现出狂犬病样症状的动物均被扑杀并进行狂犬病检测。通过这种方式，每年在野生动物中诊断出250 - 400例狂犬病病例。为了从分子水平上对野生动物中流行的狂犬病病毒进行特征分析，对1999年采集的25份近期狂犬病阳性样本的狂犬病病毒RNA进行了逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）扩增。对病毒核蛋白编码区的RT-PCR扩增产物进行直接测序及后续序列分析，结果显示分离株之间的同源性为99.3 - 100%，与1995年来自爱沙尼亚的基因型I经典狂犬病病毒（RABV）貉分离株的相似性为99.0 - 100%。这些结果证实狂犬病病毒在拉脱维亚的野生动物中呈地方性流行，应被视为严重的公共卫生威胁。为了成功根除野生动物宿主，必须继续实施全国性的狂犬病根除计划，并且可能需要加强该计划。
