Central Veterinary Laboratory, Veterinary Directorate, Baghdad, Iraq.
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Rabies and Viral Zoonoses Group, (WHO Collaborating Centre for the Characterisation of Rabies and Rabies-Related Viruses, OIE Reference Laboratory for Rabies), Weybridge, New Haw, Surrey, United Kingdom.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2020 Oct 22;14(10):e0008622. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008622. eCollection 2020 Oct.
Rabies was first reported in ancient Iraqi civilizations, yet it remains a poorly quantified and important public health threat in the region. Efforts to control rabies in Iraq including dog population control, and vaccination of livestock and dogs, have increased since 2010. Officially reported data on human rabies, dog bites, and animal rabies cases between 2012 and 2017 are analysed here to assess the effect of existing control efforts, to inform future strategies, and to highlight gaps in surveillance and reporting. The results of molecular characterization of 32 viruses from animal cases from throughout Iraq are presented, to improve the understanding of rabies dynamics in the animal reservoir. Although annual numbers of reported human cases were lower in the period between 2012 and 2017 than prior to 2010, human cases continue. There was a distinct gender and age bias among human cases with nine cases in males for every one female and twice as many cases in children than adults. Spatial clustering analysis and phylogenetic evidence suggests rabies is endemic throughout the country, with no regional variation in risk, but better surveillance and reporting is required to underpin control strategies.
狂犬病最早在古伊拉克文明中被报道，但在该地区仍是一个未被充分量化的重要公共卫生威胁。自 2010 年以来，伊拉克在控制狂犬病方面的努力有所增加，包括控制犬只数量以及对牲畜和犬只进行疫苗接种。本文分析了 2012 年至 2017 年期间官方报告的人间狂犬病、狗咬伤和动物狂犬病病例数据，以评估现有控制工作的效果，为未来的防控策略提供信息，并突出监测和报告方面的差距。还介绍了从伊拉克各地动物病例中分离出的 32 株病毒的分子特征分析结果，以增进对动物储存库中狂犬病动态的了解。尽管 2012 年至 2017 年期间报告的人间病例数低于 2010 年之前，但人间病例仍在继续发生。人间病例存在明显的性别和年龄偏向，每 9 例男性病例对应 1 例女性病例，儿童病例数是成年人的两倍。空间聚类分析和系统发育证据表明，狂犬病在全国范围内流行，风险无地域差异，但需要更好的监测和报告来支持控制策略。
