Efficacy of Oral Vaccination in the Final Stage of Fox Rabies Elimination in Switzerland

• Published in: Journal of veterinary medicine. Series B Vol. 51; no. 10; pp. 433 - 437
• Main Authors: Bugnon, P., Breitenmoser, U., Peterhans, E., Zanoni, R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin, Germany Blackwell Verlag GmbH 01-12-2004; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Animals; Antibodies, Viral - biosynthesis; Disease Outbreaks - prevention & control; Disease Outbreaks - veterinary; Foxes; Rabies - epidemiology; Rabies - prevention & control; Rabies Vaccines - administration & dosage; Rabies virus; Rabies virus - immunology; Switzerland - epidemiology; Vaccination - veterinary; Switzerland
• ISSN: 0931-1793; 1863-1959; 1439-0450; 1863-2378
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0450.2004.00801.x

Summary
Subsequent to rabies vaccination campaigns, two well‐established methods for the determination of the proportion of vaccinated foxes – the detection of tetracycline (TC) in bones and the detection of virus neutralizing antibodies (VNA) in thoracic fluids – were used and compared. Special emphasis was given to the effect of a new method of bait distribution at the den, which is primarily targeted at young foxes. The overall proportion of vaccinated animals estimated by TC was 60% as compared to 50% by VNA. In young foxes overall, significantly lower proportions of vaccinated animals (58% by TC and 40% by VNA) than in adult foxes (75 and 59%) were estimated with both methods. Low proportions of vaccinated young animals were found after spring (39 and 18%), but also after autumn vaccination (56 and 35%). In contrast, after den vaccination the level of vaccination of young foxes reached that of adult foxes. The theoretical implication of the successful elimination of fox rabies in Switzerland in spite of a relatively low overall proportion of VNA‐positive animals is discussed.