Laboratory of Immunology, Vaccinology and Molecular Genetics, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis-Belvedere, Tunisia.
Zoonoses Public Health. 2011 Mar;58(2):110-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2009.01306.x.
In Tunisia, rabies continues to be considered as a serious public health concern. Very costly mass vaccination of dogs against rabies and expensive post-exposure prophylaxis are prerequisites to maintain a low level of human rabies cases. In Tunisia, the implementation of mass vaccination campaigns at the national level has undoubtedly contributed to the drop of rabies endemicity, but the overall outcome is rather suboptimal. In this investigation, we wanted to estimate the extent of the vaccination coverage in dogs in three Governorates (Manouba, Kassrine and Mednine), by collecting data through questionnaires and interviews relevant to 1470 owned dogs. When the campaign is correctly applied, as in Manouba, almost all the targeted dog population can be reached by parenteral vaccination and an almost elimination of the disease can be evidenced. However, in Kasserine and especially in Medenine, where the vaccination coverage is lower than 31%, a reservoir for the disease can be maintained. To match the official figures of vaccination coverage, we should update the statistics of the size of dog population which seems to be bigger than what is assumed. In addition, we wanted to assess the level of involvement of the local population with the vaccination campaigns by marking vaccinated dogs with necklaces and establishing later on the vaccination coverage accordingly. The highest levels of vaccination coverage can be reached in the rural regions. Therefore, the low vaccination coverage in rural areas, reported at the national level, is more attributable to the lack of human and financial resources to reach remote regions. We think that rabies control programmes in Tunisia can be successful if vaccination coverage can reach 70% in all parts of the country. The achieved vaccination coverage should be estimated after random visits in many parts of the country and by checking valid vaccination certificates.
在突尼斯，狂犬病仍然被认为是一个严重的公共卫生问题。对狗进行大规模狂犬病疫苗接种和昂贵的暴露后预防是维持低人类狂犬病病例水平的前提条件。在突尼斯，国家一级实施大规模疫苗接种运动无疑有助于降低狂犬病地方性流行，但总体效果相当不理想。在这项调查中，我们希望通过问卷调查和访谈收集 1470 只宠物狗的数据，来估计三个省（Manouba、Kasserine 和 Mednine）的犬类疫苗接种覆盖率。当疫苗接种运动得到正确实施时，就像在 Manouba 一样，几乎可以通过注射疫苗的方式对目标犬群进行免疫接种，并且可以证明该疾病几乎已经消除。然而，在 Kasserine 尤其是 Medenine，疫苗接种覆盖率低于 31%，可能会导致疾病的持续存在。为了与官方的疫苗接种覆盖率数据相匹配，我们应该更新犬只数量的统计数据，因为这些数据似乎比假设的要大。此外，我们还想评估当地居民对疫苗接种运动的参与程度，为此我们用项链标记已接种疫苗的狗，然后根据标记情况评估疫苗接种覆盖率。在农村地区可以达到最高的疫苗接种覆盖率。因此，全国范围内报告的农村地区疫苗接种覆盖率较低，更多地归因于缺乏人力和财力来覆盖偏远地区。我们认为，如果疫苗接种覆盖率能在全国范围内达到 70%，突尼斯的狂犬病控制计划就能取得成功。实际的疫苗接种覆盖率应该在全国范围内进行随机访问后进行估计，并通过检查有效的疫苗接种证书来核实。
