Aylan Orhan, Sertkaya Bayram, Demeli Anıl, Vos Ad, Hacioglu Sabri, Atıcı Yeşim Tatan, Yıldız Deniz Acun, Müller Thomas, Freuling Conrad M
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, General Directorate of Food and Control, Animal Health and Quarantine Department, Eskişehir, Yolu Üzeri 9.km. Lodumlu, Ankara, Turkey.
Ceva Innovation Center, 06861 Dessau-Rosslau, Germany.
One Health. 2024 Aug 28;19:100877. doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2024.100877. eCollection 2024 Dec.
Rabies in Turkey is maintained by dogs, but following a sustained spill-over, red fox mediated rabies had spread from the Aegean region to the central part of Türkiye. During the past four years from 2019 to 2023 large scale efforts used oral rabies vaccination (ORV) to control rabies in red foxes. Here, we present the results of the largest ORV campaign on the Asian continent.
ORV campaigns were carried out twice a year in spring and autumn with a targeted bait density of 20-23 baits/km. Monitoring of ORV campaigns included the GIS-based analyses of bait distribution, the assessment of bait uptake through biomarker detection and the determination of seroconversion (sero-positivity in ELISA) in the target species collected within the vaccination area. For determination of fox rabies incidence in vaccination areas as the main indicator of the performance of the ORV campaigns, epidemiological data was obtained from the national passive surveillance program.
Aerial bait distribution was highly accurate, with >99 % of baits being recorded from targeted zones, thus meeting the desired bait densities. Although the overall bait uptake (28.1 %; 95 %CI: 23.2-32.8) and seroprevalance (36.3 %; 95 %CI: 30.0-43.2) were low, rabies incidence drastically decreased in ORV areas and rabies was eliminated from western and central parts of Turkey, with no reported cases in foxes from ORV areas in 2022 and 2023.
A large-scale ORV campaign against fox rabies using high quality vaccine baits and the GIS-aided and monitored bait distribution was able to control fox mediated rabies in the western and central parts of Türkiye. Rabies control both in dogs and foxes should be expanded to cover also the eastern parts of Türkiye, to become eventually rabies free.
土耳其的狂犬病主要由犬类传播，但在持续的病毒溢出后，红狐传播的狂犬病已从爱琴海地区蔓延至土耳其中部。在2019年至2023年的过去四年里，大规模使用口服狂犬病疫苗（ORV）来控制红狐狂犬病。在此，我们展示了亚洲大陆最大规模的ORV活动结果。
ORV活动每年在春季和秋季进行两次，目标诱饵密度为每公里20 - 23个诱饵。ORV活动监测包括基于地理信息系统（GIS）的诱饵分布分析、通过生物标志物检测评估诱饵摄取情况以及确定在疫苗接种区域收集的目标物种中的血清转化（酶联免疫吸附测定法中的血清阳性）。为了确定疫苗接种区域内狐狸狂犬病发病率作为ORV活动效果的主要指标，从国家被动监测项目中获取了流行病学数据。
空中诱饵分布高度准确，超过99%的诱饵记录在目标区域，从而达到了期望的诱饵密度。尽管总体诱饵摄取率（28.1%；95%置信区间：23.2 - 32.8）和血清阳性率（36.3%；95%置信区间：30.0 - 43.2）较低，但ORV区域的狂犬病发病率大幅下降，土耳其西部和中部已消除狂犬病，2022年和2023年ORV区域未报告狐狸狂犬病病例。
使用高质量疫苗诱饵并借助GIS辅助和监测诱饵分布的大规模ORV活动能够控制土耳其西部和中部由狐狸传播的狂犬病。犬类和狐狸的狂犬病防控应扩大到覆盖土耳其东部，最终实现无狂犬病。
