Epidemiology and control of rabies in Malawi

Abstract

The official statistics for rabies in animals and man are reviewed and inaccuracies discussed. Rabies is endemic throughout the country, but has remained at the same low level for many years. An average of 186 cases are confirmed in animals each year. Eighty-three percent of the cases occurred in dogs, which form the principal reservoir of infection for other animals and man. Jackals and hyenas accounted for 5% of the cases. Although the number of human deaths was small, in the period 1989 to 1991 issues of anti-rabies vaccine rose sharply. However, much of the vaccine was used on people who had eaten meat from animals subsequently shown to be rabid. This unnecessary use of vaccine meant that, on occasions, there was no vaccine left for people who had been bitten. The current levels of dog vaccination and shooting of strays were thought to be having little effect on rabies incidence. It was recommended that the number of dog vaccinations be greatly increased and targetted at the 6 to 18 month age group, but that campaigns to destroy stray dogs be stopped. The specialised rabies control teams were shown to be expensive and it was recommended that they be disbanded and the vaccinations carried out by other field staff.

Factors associated with milk producer\s awareness and practices in relation to zoonoses in northern Malawi

“…infectious diseases account for up to 68% of all deaths Though information about zoonotic disease especially in vulnerable groups such as children and burden in animals and humans in most African people infected with HIV/AIDS [1]. Sixty-one per cent countries including Malawi remains scarce [13], of the 1,415 species of infectious agents reported to reports have demonstrated their existence [4,6,[14][15][16][17]. cause disease in humans are naturally transmissible In Malawi, reported cases of human infection with from vertebrate animals to humans and vice-versa [2].…”

“…cause disease in humans are naturally transmissible In Malawi, reported cases of human infection with from vertebrate animals to humans and vice-versa [2]. zoonotic diseases include rabies and cryptosporidium Despite their importance, most zoonotic infections go [6,14,18] while bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, rabies undiagnosed, causing enormous suffering and death of and cryptosporidiosis have also been reported in thousands of children and adults daily [3][4][5][6][7].…”

“…animals [6,10,14,19,20]. Amongst these, only rabies is While zoonotic infections remain age-long, many being given considerable attention though insufficient factors including increase contact between animals and funds, lack of information on the disease burden as well humans continue to play a key role in their emergence diagnostic facilities continue to be a major setback in and persistence.…”

Estimating Occurrence and Detectability of a Carnivore Community in Eastern Botswana using Baited Camera Traps

“…Cases of hyaenas killed by rabies have also been reported from South Africa (Barnard 1979), Namibia (Swanepoel et al 1993), Zambia (Riittcher and Sawchuk 1978) Malawi (Edelsten 1995) and Ethiopia (Mebatsion et al 1992). In both the Serengeti and the Masai Mara, spotted hyaena populations revealed a similar, high frequency of exposure (46.6% seroprevalence) to rabies.…”

“…The second is the incidence, distribution and impact of pathogens from case reports or serological surveys in the veterinary literature. In both contexts, sources often refer to a generic "hyaena", but do not specify the species (see Mebatsion et al 1992, Edelsten 1995, Thesiger 1996, or species identification may be unreliable, as pointed out by several sources in the questionnaire survey.…”