Canine rabies and human-wolf conflict

Aniruddha Belsare

Abi Tamim Vanak

Canine rabies and Human-Wolf conflict:

Preliminary investigations in rural Maharashtra

Study area

Three rural districts in Maharashtra• Solapur• Ahmednagar• Osmanabad

Criteria for village selection

• Reports of wolf attacksMedia-newspapersForest Department records

• Reports of ‘rabid’ dog attacksCivil hospital ARV treatment records

Wolf attacks: Ahmednagar District

• January 2008• February 2009- 3 cases (2 in Karjat taluka)

Past attacks in Ahmednagar District

• In 2001, 19 ‘fox’ (jackal) bite cases reported from Karjat taluka- 2 of the victims died exhibiting clinical signs indicative of rabies

• In 2005, 4 people were attacked by a jackal in Autewadi village (Karjat taluka)

Records from DCF (Solapur) office

• February 2005- wolf attack in Mohol• April 2005- ‘rabid’ wolf attack in Malshiras• July 2006- wolf attack in Pandharpur• October 2006- human death due to wolf

attack in Kumbhej• March 2007- 2 human deaths after wolf

attack in Karandevadi and Nandani• November 2007- wolf attack in Jamgaon

2008 Wolf attacks: Solapur District

• June 2008- Wolf in Solapur city• 9th June 2008- Bibidarfal village• 8th November 2008-Ropale village

Bibidarfal wolf attack

Rabid wolf attack pattern

• Wolf traveling over large distances• Biting a large number of people and

domestic animals• Usually a single day event

Opportunistic testing of wolves

• Could not test the wolves involved in Bibidarfal and Ropale attack- were killed and disposed by the villagers

• Wherever possible, we have discussed with the villagers as well as FD officials, the importance of using such opportunities to test suspected wolves (or dogs). Even dead animals can be tested…

Wolf captured in Solapur City-2008

Tested for rabies-negative

Anigen rabies antigen test

• Rabies testing using saliva from the animal• Dot ELISA test • Field test: takes 10 minutes• Can be used to test suspected cases, even

freshly killed animals can be tested

Rabies

• Spill-over from dogs?• Spill-back from wolves to dogs?• Dogs are abundant, mostly free-ranging and

unvaccinated• Canine rabies is endemic: 20,000 human

deaths every year in India due to rabies• But no organized surveillance of rabies in

India

No confirmed rabies cases

• Not a single laboratory confirmed case!• Even human rabies cases are diagnosed on

the basis of history and clinical signs, no post mortem confirmation -Rabies is not a reportable/notifiable disease in India

Indicators of canine rabies

• Dog bite injuries in the region• Incidence of canine rabies-reports of ‘rabid’

dogs• Confirmed rabies cases in dogs• Testing of dogs

Vaccination and rabies testing camps

• 8 vaccination camps• Saliva samples from

124 dogs• Meetings organized to

explain our objectives• Questionnaire survey

Vaccination camps

• Center-point vaccination camps

• House-to-house visits

Dog bite incidence data

• Dog-bite injury data has been used to detect canine rabies trends (Cleaveland et al., 2003)

• We have collected available data from three civil hospitals in the region

• Will include data analysis in the final report