International cooperation boosts rabies surveillance

Recent research by scientists from Azerbaijan and the UK has demonstrated how international technical collaboration can help the global effort to control rabies. It is well known that surveillance in endemic regions is crucial to controlling the disease but is often inadequate due to low public awareness or lack of resources.   In the new study, led by the OIE Reference Laboratory for Rabies at AHVLA, scientists from the UK have engaged with scientists from Azerbaijan to study the incidence of disease in humans and animals, and characterize rabies strains in the region. The study demonstrated an increase in officially reported rabies cases in both humans and animals since 2006, and found evidence that more than one strain of rabies is circulating at the same time in the country.

Azerbaijan is a large country in the geopolitically important Caucasus region, where rabies is endemic but under-reported. Addressing under-reporting of rabies is the first important step in the control of the disease and this cross-government department project, funded by the UK Biological Engagement Programme, is aimed at just that.  Alongside laboratory training and public awareness campaigns, the collaboration involved sequencing rabies strains detected in the region for comparison with strains from surrounding countries. This characterization has demonstrated genetically different strains of rabies in different parts of Azerbaijan, which suggests rabies may have recently spread across national borders and that there is a need for a regional approach to control. The majority of rabies cases reported in the study were in dogs and domestic animals, but rabies is also reported in some wildlife species in Azerbaijan and surrounding countries. Ongoing surveillance and characterization of viruses will help elucidate the role of wildlife in the spread and maintenance of disease.

The OIE Reference Laboratory for Rabies, within the Wildlife Zoonoses and Vector Borne Diseases Research Group at AHVLA, led by Dr Tony Fooks, has a remit to provide world class scientific and technical assistance, training and expert advice on the surveillance and control of rabies. Dr Fooks said: “A key feature of this collaboration is the engagement and capacity building in Azerbaijan, which is aimed at providing lasting benefits for disease surveillance in the region”.  A further project is now also underway in neighbouring Georgia facilitating regional cooperation.

Article contributed by Dr Dan Horton a lecturer in Veterinary Virology at the University of Surrey. The research paper, “Epidemiological Characteristics of Human and Animal Rabies in Azerbaijan” was published in Zoonoses Public Health .