The landscape epidemiology of rabies in Virginia.

Rabies virus, the gray fox, and the Alleghenian Biotic Region form a pathobiocenose; rabies in Virginia exists in a diffuse nidus, the Alleghenian Biotic Region. Physiographic features may serve as barriers or as passageways for epidemic spread of rabies. Epidemic spread is characterized by a radial pattern and a linear northeast-southwest pattern reflecting physiographic features. Incidence of rabies in the fox varies according to seasons. Present control efforts are generally ineffective; under certain conditions, population reduction for control of rabies may be detrimental instead of beneficial.