NEW STEP IN THE CONTROL OF CANINE RABIES IN INDIA 1 HSADL-High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Anand Nagar, Bhopal , Madhya Pradesh, India 2 Petswill, Kesar Complex, Malhar Road, Gurudev Nagar, Ludhiana, Punjab, India 3 AFSSA, National Research Laboratory on Rabies and Wildlife Diseases, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Management in Zoonoses Control, OIE Reference Laboratory on Rabies, EU Reference Institute for Rabies Serology, Technopole Agricole et Vétérinaire, BP 40009, Malzéville, France 4 VIRBAC Laboratories, B.P. 27, Carros Cedex, France 5 Conseils en Pharmacie et Biologie, Santé, Sainte Foy les Lyon, France 6 AFSSA, Small Ruminants and Bee Research Laboratory, 105 route des Chappes, BP 111, F Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France 7 World Health Organization, Department of Communicable Diseases, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland H.K. Pradhan 1, J.P. Gurbuxani 2, F. Cliquet 3, B. Pattnaik 1, S.S. Patil 1, A. Regnault 4, H. Begouen 4, A.L. Guiot 5, R. Sood 1, P. Mahl 4, R. Singh 1, E. Picard 3, M.F.A. Aubert 6, J. Barrat 3, F.X. Meslin 7

EPIDEMIOLOGY India has 27 million dogs ( Dog : Human ratio 1 : 40 ) Stray dog population – 80% Animal bite incidence – 17.5 million per year - 66% children Every 2 seconds a man is bitten by dog Every ½ Hour a man dies of rabies More than human death every year 40 % of people bitten by dogs do not go for treatment

EPIDEMIOLOGY CONT. India has highest incidence of rabies in the world(80%) 96% human rabies due to dog bite, out of which 11% due to pet dog bite Rest 4% due to contact with jackals, cats, monkeys, mongoose etc. For the last 10 years human death figure is constant. In army – 1 death per 6 lakh soldiers Death in other animals – Data not available Death of one cattle per 1 lakh cattle ( 2830 )

RABIES CONTROL PROGRAMME IN INDIA No systematic programme Animal Birth Control ( ABC ) Catch, neuter, vaccinate and release – 1.4 lakh (0.52 %) Neutering policies not well defined Vaccination of reservoir population – Best choice India spends Rs 1500 crores ( US$ 375m) for rabies vaccine in humans

RABIES CONTROL PROGRAMME IN INDIA ( CONTD..) Availability of vaccines Nervous tissue vaccine – Discontinued in Nov but used in some places Tissue culture vaccine - Limited supply Oral rabies vaccine – Not available Annual requirement – 30 million doses Available – 18 million doses Net deficit – 12 million doses Introduction of oral vaccine ( SAG –2 ) Testing under Indian conditions - must

SAFETY AND EFFICACY STUDIES ON ORAL VACCINE (SAG-2) PREPARATIONS l All the dogs were dewormed and vaccinated against canine distemper, Rubarth hepatitis, parvo virus and leptospirosis. l Pre-vaccinated animals tested for antibody and virus. l Immunosupression with Vetalog-4 Inj. of 1.2 mg.

SAFETY AND EFFICACY STUDIES ON ORAL VACCINE (SAG-2) Vaccine Safety l Group-I (normal dogs) vaccinated - 4 l Group-II (Immunosuppressed) vaccinated- 5 l Group-III Control -3 Vaccine Efficacy l Group-IV (vaccinated & challenged) – 9 l Group-V (Unvaccinated challenged) – 5 Challenged I/M with street virus ( 100 MICLD 50 ) on 28 th day

SAFETY AND EFFICACY STUDIES ON ORAL VACCINE (SAG-2) l Clinical observation Safety trial – 219 days Efficacy trial – 199 days l Saliva collection- For excretion of vaccine virus (D 0 to D 5 ) l Neutralizing antibody detection after vaccination : D 0, D 14, D 28, D 56

RESULTS l Bait acceptance – 2-20 minutes. l Safety – No side effects in vaccinated dogs. l All 9 vaccinated and challenged dogs survived (90 days post challenge) l All the 5 unvaccinated & challenged dogs died within days. l All the control challenged dogs had virus in hippocampus and salivary glands. ( FAT) l No virus detected in vaccinated and challenged dogs. l Neutralizing antibodies ( >0.5IU/ml) 14 days post vaccination - 5/13 did not persist 28 days post vaccination - 4/13 56 days post vaccination - 5/13 Unvaccinated dogs - No antibody. Antibodies present in 7/13 dogs

FIELD TRIALS ON BATING DatePlaceNo.of Dogs baited Bait Accepted Dhansa Nizampur Singhu Border Karkardooma East Delhi DLF Gurgaon1714 Total Bait Acceptance –92 %

BAITING OF STRAY DOGS

PILOT PROJECT ON ORAL RABIES VACCINATION OF STRAY DOGS Indian Govt. approved the project for 5 years No. of doses to be used – 0.8 million 1 st year million doses 2 nd year million doses 3 rd year million doses 4 th year million doses 5 th year million doses Indian Govt. approved the project for 5 years No. of doses to be used – 0.8 million 1 st year million doses 2 nd year million doses 3 rd year million doses 4 th year million doses 5 th year million doses

WHO recommendations for the implementation of oral vaccination projects The "road map" of a national strategy could be : 1. To select one or several candidate vaccines. 2. To choose an already available bait or to develop a new one 3. To evaluate the acceptability of the chosen bait(s) in the target population; 4. To conduct dog population studies to better define the target populations for parenteral and oral immunization 5. To estimate vaccination coverage established in a given community by oral and parenteral immunization 6. To monitor the rabies situation in dogs, other species and human 7. To provide sufficient information to the public to secure public support and cooperation.

CONCLUSION In India with 27 million dogs animal In India with 27 million dogs animal birth control ( CNVR ) is not a solution. birth control ( CNVR ) is not a solution. Vaccination is the best choice – parenteral Vaccination is the best choice – parenteral for accessible dogs and oral vaccination for for accessible dogs and oral vaccination for non-accessible dogs non-accessible dogs Shortage of conventional vaccines Shortage of conventional vaccines ORV ( SAG-2 ) is convenient in immunization ORV ( SAG-2 ) is convenient in immunization of stray dogs of stray dogs Bait acceptance is 92 % Bait acceptance is 92 % ORV is safe for people who live close to ORV is safe for people who live close to dogs as no salivary secretion of virus dogs as no salivary secretion of virus Safe for dogs as no adverse clinical Safe for dogs as no adverse clinical signs and no replication of virus signs and no replication of virus

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