Molecular Epidemiology of Rabies in Southern People’s Republic of China

• DOI: 10.3201/eid1508.081551
• Publication Date: 2009-08-19T16:50:45Z
• Authors: Xiao-Yan Tao; Qing Tang; Hao Li; Zhao-Jun Mo; Hong Zhang; Ding-Ming Wang; Qiang Zhang; Miao Song; Andres Velasco-Villa; Xianfu Wu; Charles E. Rupprecht; Guo-Dong Liang
• Keywords: China; Meat; Genes, Viral; Rabies; rabies; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Communicable Diseases, Emerging; epidemic; Disease Outbreaks; 03 medical and health sciences; Dogs; Animals; Humans; viruses; Dog Diseases; Phylogeny; nucleoprotein; DNA Primers; Disease Reservoirs; Molecular Epidemiology; 0303 health sciences; Base Sequence; Research; R; Nucleocapsid Proteins; 3. Good health; Rabies virus; Molecular epidemiology; DNA, Viral; Medicine

In recent years, the number of human rabies cases in the People's Republic of China has increased during severe epidemics in 3 southern provinces (Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hunan). To analyze the causes of the high incidence of human rabies in this region, during 2005-2007, we collected 2,887 brain specimens from apparently healthy domestic dogs used for meat consumption in restaurants, 4 specimens from suspected rabid dogs, and 3 from humans with rabies in the 3 provinces. Partial nucleoprotein gene sequences were obtained from rabies-positive specimens. Phylogenetic relationships and distribution of viruses were determined. We infer that the spread of rabies viruses from high-incidence regions, particularly by long-distance movement or transprovincial translocation of dogs caused by human-related activities, may be 1 cause of the recent massive human rabies epidemics in southern China.