Investigation Of Rabies Virus And Its Antibodies In Domestic Dogs In Shanghai Region

Rabies is a fatal viral disease of all warm-blooded mammals, which has killedsubstantial numbers of humans and animals for many years. Rabies is still a public healthhazard in many parts of the world, particularly Asia. Rabies is an endemic disease in Chinaand dogs are the main reservoirs accounting for more than 95% of rabid animals. In thisstudy the epidemiology of this virus and its antibody were investigated in Shanghai asfollowing:1. The brains and saliva samples were collected from different kinds of dogs inShanghai, and the rabies virus were detected by ELISA. The positive samples were theconfirmed by FAT and MIT. The results showed that positive rates in rabid-suspect dogs,inspected dogs, urban registered dogs and farm-raised dogs were 75%～87.5%,23%～26%,21.0%,0.12%and 0% respectively. The dogs less than 1 year old had higher positiverate than the adult dogs, and the level of positive rate was the highest from April to June.The results of virus antigen detection were correspondence with those of clinicalinvestigation.2. The antibody against Rabies was examined by ELISA(PLATELIATM) in differentkinds of dogs in Shanghai. The results indicated that the positive rates in urban registereddogs, rural registered dogs, inspected dogs and farm-raised dogs were 84.2%,48.8%,21.0% and 25.6% respectively. The antibody titers in the urban dogs registered were morethan the recommended threshold of 0.5IU/mL, which can provide the dogs adequateprotection for one year after vaccination 1. Maternal antibody in puppies which were bornof immunized bitches persisted for about 88 days under present immunization procedureperformed in urban registered dogs. The results of immune potency of different vaccine,showed that the immune effect of French-made vaccine was better than that ofChinese-made vaccine, while the immune potency of this vaccine by subcutaneousinjection route was not significant different from that by intramuscular injection route.