Oral vaccination of dogs: a well-studied and undervalued tool for achieving human and dog rabies elimination

Abstract

The mass vaccination of dogs is a proven tool for rabies prevention. Besides parenteral delivery of inactivated vaccines, over the past several decades, several self-replicating biologics, including modified-live, attenuated and recombinant viruses, have been evaluated for the oral vaccination of dogs against rabies. Vaccines are included within an attractive bait for oral consumption by free-ranging dogs. Due to the high affinity between dogs and humans, such biologics intended for oral vaccination of dogs (OVD) need to be efficacious as well as safe. Baits should be preferentially attractive to dogs and not to non-target species. Although many different types have been evaluated successfully, no universal bait has been identified to date. Moreover, high bait acceptance does not necessarily mean that vaccine efficacy and programmatic success is predictable. The use of OVD in the laboratory and field has demonstrated the safety and utility of this technology. Within a One Health context, OVD should be considered as part of a holistic plan for the global elimination of canine rabies.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13567-018-0554-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Oral bait handout as a method to access roaming dogs for rabies vaccination in Goa, India: A proof of principle study

“…There is no universally successful bait due to differences in local culture, dog ecology and food preference between countries [13], [23], [59], [60]. The lack of a quality bait construct in this study is likely to have affected the proportion of dogs ‘vaccinated’ through the OBH approach.…”

“…The selection of an ORV that is safe in both target and non-target species, including humans, is essential [56]. More than 270 million doses of recombinant, modified-live and attenuated-live oral rabies vaccines have been used in wildlife in Europe and North America with minimal adverse events in target and non-target species [23], [24], [57], [58], and the handout distribution method reduces the chances of human exposure to vaccine by removing a large proportion of the unconsumed bait and capsule material from the environment. In the current study it was possible to recover 99.9% of unconsumed intact baits, however the outcome of 13% of baits was unknown.…”

“…Studies to assess OBH have been conducted in settings in the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia [16], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], however its use has not been studied in India and no studies have compared the operational practicalities with CVR methods. WHO and OIE advocate for the evaluation of this approach as a supplementary measure to increase vaccination coverage in areas where a sufficient proportion of dogs cannot be accessed for parenteral vaccination [17], [23], [24].…”

Trends and spatial distribution of animal bites and vaccination status among victims and the animal population, Uganda: A veterinary surveillance system analysis, 2013 – 2017

“…However, rabies control can be achieved with sufficient vaccination rates: a study modelling the minimum dog vaccination coverage required for interruption of transmission of rabies in humans in Ndjamena, Chad showed that only 71% of dogs would require vaccination (24). Mass oral rabies vaccination for free-ranging dogs (OVD), which has been researched and promoted by WHO since 1988, should also be a part of the rabies control strategy (25).…”

Correction to: Oral vaccination of dogs: a well-studied and undervalued tool for achieving human and dog rabies elimination

“…The original article [ 1 ] contained an error in the Author details paragraph. “ 5 Neglected Zoonotic Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland” should be replaced by “ 5 Le Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland”.…”