On the Use of Phylogeographic Inference to Infer the Dispersal History of Rabies Virus: A Review Study

Abstract

Rabies is a neglected zoonotic disease which is caused by negative strand RNA-viruses belonging to the genus Lyssavirus. Within this genus, rabies viruses circulate in a diverse set of mammalian reservoir hosts, is present worldwide, and is almost always fatal in non-vaccinated humans. Approximately 59,000 people are still estimated to die from rabies each year, leading to a global initiative to work towards the goal of zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030, requiring scientific efforts from different research fields. The past decade has seen a much increased use of phylogeographic and phylodynamic analyses to study the evolution and spread of rabies virus. We here review published studies in these research areas, making a distinction between the geographic resolution associated with the available sequence data. We pay special attention to environmental factors that these studies found to be relevant to the spread of rabies virus. Importantly, we highlight a knowledge gap in terms of applying these methods when all required data were available but not fully exploited. We conclude with an overview of recent methodological developments that have yet to be applied in phylogeographic and phylodynamic analyses of rabies virus.

Spatial and temporal dynamic analysis of rabies: A review of current methodologies

“…Whole-genome sequencing of viruses is a valuable method for analysing viral evolution and tracking outbreaks (Brunker et al, 2018b;Nahata et al, 2021). A systematic analysis of epidemiological and pathogen genetic sequence data can describe the temporal dynamics of canine rabies and reveal its spatial transmission mechanism (Biek et al, 2007;Bourhy et al, 2016;Real et al, 2005;Yu et al, 2012).…”

“…While, on the plains, the goal is to manage the link between the rabies-infected communities and those that are unaffected (Guo et al, 2018a). Environmental factors can be integrated with genetic data into phylogeographic frameworks to quantify how different attributes influence the transmission processes (Nahata et al, 2021).…”

Recent updates on laboratory diagnosis of rabies

“…It allows for the identification of the virus through techniques such as partial or whole-genome sequencing. This detailed characterization of the virus provides valuable insights into disease epidemiology, including identification of circulating variants, presence of non-RABV lyssaviruses, host species involved, geographical origins and sources of infection 36 37 38 .…”

Different but Not Unique: Deciphering the Immunity of the Jamaican Fruit Bat by Studying Its Viriome

“…RABV is a rhabdovirus that is found globally in many mammalian species, particularly associated with canines and bats [22]. Infections of humans with RABV are nearly always lethal, even with intervention [23].…”