Nel Louis H, Markotter Wanda
Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Crit Rev Microbiol. 2007;33(4):301-24. doi: 10.1080/10408410701647602.
Lyssaviruses are the etiological agents of rabies, one of the oldest viral diseases known to man and a disease that has persisted over many centuries. Together with sound diagnostic methods and efficacious vaccines--both of which had been available for many decades, an understanding of the epidemiology of the disease have enabled its control and even elimination in some specific reservoir species in North America and Western Europe. However, worldwide rabies still radiates into new host species and geographical domains and has become vastly underestimated throughout the developing world through lack of awareness, apathy and poor surveillance. As a result, this disease is now more of a global public and veterinary health threat than it has ever been.
狂犬病病毒是狂犬病的病原体，狂犬病是人类已知最古老的病毒性疾病之一，且已持续存在了许多世纪。加上已存在数十年的可靠诊断方法和有效的疫苗，对该疾病流行病学的了解使得在北美和西欧的一些特定宿主物种中能够对其进行控制甚至消除。然而，在全球范围内，狂犬病仍在扩散到新的宿主物种和地理区域，并且由于缺乏认识、冷漠和监测不力，在整个发展中世界，狂犬病的危害被大大低估。因此，这种疾病如今对全球公共卫生和兽医健康构成的威胁比以往任何时候都更大。
