The ascension of wildlife rabies: a cause for public health concern or intervention?

The epidemiology of rabies in the United States has changed substantially during the last half century, as the source of the disease has changed from domesticated animals to wildlife, principally raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats. Moreover, the changes observed among affected wildlife populations ha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging infectious diseases 1995-10, Vol.1 (4), p.107-114
Main Authors: Rupprecht, C E, Smith, J S, Fekadu, M, Childs, J E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Animals, Wild
Cats
Chiroptera
Disease Outbreaks
Disease Reservoirs - veterinary
Disease Transmission, Infectious - economics
Disease Transmission, Infectious - prevention & control
Dogs
Foxes
History of medicine
History, 18th Century
History, 19th Century
History, 20th Century
Humans
Mephitidae
Population Surveillance
Public Health - economics
Public Health - methods
Rabies - epidemiology
Rabies - history
Rabies - prevention & control
Rabies - veterinary
Raccoons
Recreation
Rhabdoviridae Infections - epidemiology
Rhabdoviridae Infections - veterinary
United States
Vaccination
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Summary:The epidemiology of rabies in the United States has changed substantially during the last half century, as the source of the disease has changed from domesticated animals to wildlife, principally raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats. Moreover, the changes observed among affected wildlife populations have not occurred without human influence. Rather, human attraction to the recreational and economic resources provided by wildlife has contributed to the reemergence of rabies as a major zoonosis. Although human deaths caused by rabies have declined recently to an average of one or two per year, the estimated costs associated with the decrease in deaths amount to hundreds of millions of dollars annually. In future efforts to control rabies harbored by free-ranging animal reservoirs, public health professionals will have to apply imaginative, safe, and cost-effective solutions to this age-old malady in addition to using traditional measures.
ISSN:1080-6040
1080-6059
DOI:10.3201/eid0104.950401