Potential Eradication of Rabies from Flores in Indonesia
Potential Eradication of Rabies from Flores in Indonesia Scott-Orr, H (1), Bingham, J (2), Saunders, G (1), Dibia, IN (3), Putra, AAG (3) Geong, M (4). (1) NSW Department of Primary Industries, Orange, NSW, Australia (2) Australian Animal health Laboratory, CSIRO, Geelong, Victoria, Australia (3) Disease Investigation Centre, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia (4) Provincial Livestock Services, Kupang, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia Abstract: Development of a potential strategy for the eradication of canine rabies from Flores is described. Rabies entered the Indonesian island of Flores in 1997 and gradually spread east to the adjacent island of Lembata and west throughout Flores island over the next seven years. It is now endemic with approximately 1000 post-exposure prophylactic treatments and some human deaths each year. Reasons for persistence of the disease despite eradication attempts include; the difficult terrain of Flores and Lembata; cultural and economic roles of dogs in Flores leading to poor cooperation with elimination attempts; the very high dog population when rabies entered; rapid turnover of the dog population and its ability to rebound quickly after population reduction programs; difficulty in catching and presenting dogs for parenteral vaccination; and low duration of immunity provided by the local injectable vaccine. However, eradication is still highly desirable to prevent further spread of rabies to other islands, as well as eliminating ongoing costs and human misery from the disease on Flores. A strategy of mass dog vaccination
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