Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Global One Health initiative, Office of Internaional Affairs, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Transbound Emerg Dis. 2022 Nov;69(6):3837-3849. doi: 10.1111/tbed.14755. Epub 2022 Nov 15.
Rabies, a multi-host pathogen responsible for the loss of roughly 59,000 human lives each year worldwide, continues to impose a significant burden of disease despite control efforts, especially in Ethiopia. However, how species other than dogs contribute to rabies transmission throughout Ethiopia remains largely unknown. In this study, we quantified interactions among wildlife species in Ethiopia with the greatest potential for contributing to rabies maintenance. We observed wildlife at supplemental scavenging sites across multiple landscape types and quantified transmission potential. More specifically, we used camera trap data to quantify species abundance, species distribution, and intra- and inter-species contacts per trapping night over time and by location. We derived a mathematical expression for the basic reproductive number (R ) based on within- and between-species contract rates by applying the next generation method to the susceptible, exposed, infectious, removed model. We calculated R for transmission within each species and between each pair of species using camera trap data in order to identify pairwise interactions that contributed the most to transmission in an ecological community. We estimated which species, or species pairs, could maintain transmission ( ) and which species, or species pairs, had contact rates too low for maintenance ( ). Our results identified multiple urban carnivores as candidate species for rabies maintenance throughout Ethiopia, with hyenas exhibiting the greatest risk for rabies maintenance through intra-species transmission. Hyenas and cats had the greatest risk for rabies maintenance through inter-species transmission. Urban and peri-urban sites posed the greatest risk for rabies transmission. The night-time hours presented the greatest risk for a contact event that could result in rabies transmission. Overall, both intra- and inter-species contacts posed risk for rabies maintenance. Our results can be used to target future studies and inform population management decisions.
狂犬病是一种多宿主病原体，每年在全球导致约 59000 人死亡，尽管采取了控制措施，但它仍然给疾病带来了很大的负担，尤其是在埃塞俄比亚。然而，除了狗以外的其他物种在埃塞俄比亚的狂犬病传播中起到了多大的作用还很大程度上不为人知。在这项研究中，我们量化了在埃塞俄比亚对狂犬病维持最有贡献的野生动物之间的相互作用。我们在多个景观类型的补充清理地点观察野生动物，并量化了传播的可能性。更具体地说，我们使用相机陷阱数据来量化物种的丰度、物种的分布，以及随着时间和地点的推移，每个陷阱夜间的种内和种间接触次数。我们根据种内和种间接触率，应用下一代方法，基于易感者、暴露者、感染和清除模型，推导出基本繁殖数（R）的数学表达式。我们使用相机陷阱数据来计算每个物种内以及每个物种之间的 R，以确定对生态群落中传播贡献最大的成对相互作用。我们估计了哪些物种，或物种对，可以维持传播（ ），以及哪些物种，或物种对，其接触率太低而无法维持传播（ ）。我们的研究结果确定了埃塞俄比亚多个城市的食肉动物是狂犬病维持的候选物种，其中鬣狗通过种内传播显示出最大的狂犬病维持风险。鬣狗和猫通过种间传播最有可能维持狂犬病。城市和城乡结合部的地点存在最大的狂犬病传播风险。夜间是最有可能发生导致狂犬病传播的接触事件的时间段。总的来说，种内和种间接触都存在狂犬病维持的风险。我们的研究结果可以用于针对未来的研究，并为种群管理决策提供信息。
