EPIDEMIOLOGY OF RABIES IN NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

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dc.contributor.authorAHMED, Garba
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-19T08:34:05Z
dc.date.available2015-10-19T08:34:05Z
dc.date.issued2015
dc.description.abstractDog bite cases have been unofficially reported by residents of Niger State and slaughter of dogs for human consumption is occurring in the open. However, there are no official or researched documents on rabies in the state, despite published reports of rabies in neighboring states of Nigerian. This study sought to examine dog ecology and management, bite cases and rationale for dog meat consumption. The study also examined the presence of rabies virus antigen in the brain of dogs and bats slaughtered for human consumption. Duvenhage virus (DUVV) antibodies in bats and rabies antibodies in the sera of humans at risk in Niger State of Nigeria were also investigated. Out of 300 structured questionnaires administered to adult participants between the ages of 18-70 year old, only 237 questionnaires were returned. Hospital records of human dog bite cases across the study area and animal samples submitted to the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), Vom for rabies Laboratory diagnosis were also examined. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data from the questionnaire survey, and the results recorded in tables and charts. A total of 471 dog brains from apparently healthy slaughtered dogs and 267 brain samples from captured fruit eating bats were collected. Direct fluorescent assay (DFA), direct rapid immunohistochemistry test (DRIT) and reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were employed to detect rabies antigen in the brains. Sequencing and phylogenetic analyses of the positive amplicons (252, 276 and 471) were carried-out using BioEdit, ClustalX, and MEGA Program software for blast comparison and to depict the phylogenetic tree of the rabies positive samples. A total of 162 sera from bats and 185 human sera were collected and subjected to a modified and standard rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT) to detect the presence of DUVV and rabies virus antibodies in bats and human sera respectively. Another set of 185 questionnaires were equally distributed to human volunteers who gave their blood were all returned. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse the data. Results indicated that there is a population ratio of 1:5.4 dogs to humans and 1:1.9 female dogs to male ratio with an estimated 732,476 dog population in Niger State. Most of the dogs (58.6%) are kept for security reasons, but 52% of dogs are not housed/confined and majority of the dogs stray in the night (52.4%) and evenings (23.8%) from homes. Responsibility for dogs in terms of welfare, mostly (61.5%) rest on everybody in the family with 61% of dogs being fed on family left over. About 30.4% of dogs were never vaccinated and 31% of the respondents (or their family members) reported being inflicted with a dog bite. Hospital records of dog bite cases showed about 47% of cases were in children below the age of 15 years and that 81.2% of bites were on the legs with the highest cases (40 out of 223) seen in the year 2012. No animal sample was submitted for rabies confirmatory diagnosis at NVRI, Vom throughout the study period. Of the 471 dog brains analyzed, only 3 (0.63%) were positive for rabies antigen and all belonged to Africa 2 subgroup. However, one lineage found in Niger State of Nigeria is believed to have emanated from the variants seen in Niger Republic. The other variant also has never been reported in Nigeria but has close relatedness with those found in Chad republic and forms a new lineage. About 16.4% of humans at dog bite or rabies risk in Niger State had detectable rabies antibodies in their sera. About 3.9% of these volunteers were shown to have been vaccinated over the previous ten years before this study. While no rabies antigen was detected in the brains of bats in Niger State, serological evidence of Duvenhage virus was seen in 3 (1.95%) out of 154 sera of bats. This study concludes that the pattern of dog ecology and management in Niger State is about the same as have been obtained in other parts of Nigeria and much of Africa with a dog to human ratio of 1:5.4 and an estimated 732,476 dog population in Niger State. The rabies virus circulating in Niger State is of Africa 2 subgroup. One isolate did not form cluster with the 3 known Nigerian lineages and thus a new lineage (possibly Nigeria 4) is proposed. There is serological evidence of Duvenhage virus circulating in fruit eating bats and of rabies virus infection in some unvaccinated persons. Measures should be instituted to reduce human exposure to rabies.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/7002
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subjectEPIDEMIOLOGY,en_US
dc.subjectRABIES,en_US
dc.subjectNIGER STATE,en_US
dc.subjectNIGERIA.en_US
dc.titleEPIDEMIOLOGY OF RABIES IN NIGER STATE, NIGERIAen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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