High Incidence of Human Rabies Exposure in Northwestern Tigray, Ethiopia: A Four-Year Retrospective Study

Abstract

BackgroundRabies is a fatal zoonotic disease that has been known in Ethiopia for centuries in society as “Mad Dog Disease”. It is an important disease with veterinary and public health significance in the North western zone of Tigray where previous studies have not been conducted. Frequent occurrence of outbreaks in the area led the researchers to carry out a four year retrospective study to estimate the incidence of human rabies exposure in Northwestern Tigray, Ethiopia.MethodologyA referent study was conducted on human rabies exposure cases recorded from 2012 to 2015 at Suhul hospital, Shire Endaselase, Northwestern Tigray, Ethiopia. Exposure cases included in this research constituted victims bitten by unprovoked dogs and who received post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) at the hospital. Two thousand one hundred eighty human rabies exposure cases retrieved from the rabies case database were included in this study.Principal findingsThe majority of the exposed cases were males (1363/2180, 63%). Age wise, the most exposed age group was ≥15 years in all the study years: 166 (58%), 335 (65%), 492 (66%) and 394 (63%) in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. Similarly, exposure cases for human rabies increased with age in both males and females across the study years. The incidence of human rabies exposure cases calculated per 100,000 populations was 35.8, 63.0, 89.8 and 73.1 in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that being male was a risk for human rabies exposure in all the study years.ConclusionThe study discovered the highest annual human rabies exposure incidence in Ethiopia. This suggests an urgent need for synergistic efforts of human and animal health sectors to implement prevention and control strategies in this area.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards rabies in Dedo district of Jimma zone, southwestern Ethiopia: A community based cross-sectional study

“…In Ethiopia, rabies has been known for centuries in society as "Mad Dog Disease (Fekadu, 1997) and has been recorded scientifically since 1903 (Pankhrust, 1990). To date, rabies is an important disease in Ethiopia both in human and animals (Tschopp et al, 2002;Deressa et al, 2010;Yimer et al, 2016;Teklu et al, 2017). In four-year retrospective study by Teklu et al (2017) in Northwestern Tigray, the incidence of human rabies exposure cases calculated per 100,000 populations was 35.8, 63.0, 89.8 and 73.1 in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. Rabies is incurable once the clinical signs of the disease appear (Deressa et al, 2010).…”

“…To date, rabies is an important disease in Ethiopia both in human and animals (Tschopp et al, 2002;Deressa et al, 2010;Yimer et al, 2016;Teklu et al, 2017). In four-year retrospective study by Teklu et al (2017) in Northwestern Tigray, the incidence of human rabies exposure cases calculated per 100,000 populations was 35.8, 63.0, 89.8 and 73.1 in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. Rabies is incurable once the clinical signs of the disease appear (Deressa et al, 2010). However, it is possible to prevent a person exposed to the virus from getting ill to rabies by neutralizing virus with antibodies before the virus invades the nervous tissue.…”

Community based cross-sectional study on knowledge, attitudes and practices towards rabies in Munesa District, Arsi Zone, Southeastern Ethiopia

“…In Ethiopia rabies has been known for centuries in society as "Mad Dog Disease (Fekadu, 1997) and has been recorded scientifically since 1903 (Pankhrust, 1990). To date, rabies is an important disease in Ethiopia both in human and animals (Tschopp et al, 2016;Deressa et al, 2010;Yimer et al, 2012;Teklu et al, 2017). In Four-Year Retrospective Study by Teklu et al (2017) in Northwestern Tigray the incidence of human rabies exposure cases calculated per 100,000 populations was 35.8, 63.0, 89.8 and 73.1 in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively.…”

“…To date, rabies is an important disease in Ethiopia both in human and animals (Tschopp et al, 2016;Deressa et al, 2010;Yimer et al, 2012;Teklu et al, 2017). In Four-Year Retrospective Study by Teklu et al (2017) in Northwestern Tigray the incidence of human rabies exposure cases calculated per 100,000 populations was 35.8, 63.0, 89.8 and 73.1 in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. The proximity of the site of the virus entry to the CNS increases the likelihood of a short incubation period (Yin et al, 2012).…”

Community knowledge, attitude and practice on rabies, incidence in humans and animals and risk factors to rabies in selected districts of Tigray Region, Ethiopia

“…As a result, rabies remains to be one of the most feared infectious diseases in the country (Fekadu, 1997;Pankhrust, 1990). Currently, the incidence of dog bite and rabies is increasing and become significant in the country due to the increasing stray dog population, and lack of dog movement control and irregular vaccination program (Deressa et al, 2010) and then is an important disease both in human and animals (Deressa et al, 2010;Yimer et al, 2002;Tschopp et al, 2016;Alem, 2017;Teklu et al, 2017). Despite the endemic nature of rabies in Ethiopia in general and Tigray in particular, little is known about knowledge, attitude and practice level of the local community.…”