Wildlife and Bait Density Monitoring to Describe the Effectiveness of a Rabies Vaccination Program in Foxes
by
Paolo Tizzani 1,*,†
, 
Angela Fanelli 1,†, Carsten Potzsch 2, Joerg Henning 3, Srdjan Šašić 4, Paolo Viviani 5 and Mevlida Hrapović 6
Paolo Tizzani 1,*,†, Angela Fanelli 1,†, Carsten Potzsch 2, Joerg Henning 3, Srdjan Šašić 4, Paolo Viviani 5 and Mevlida Hrapović 6
1
Department Veterinary Science, University of Turin, V. Leonardo da Vinci 44, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy
2
Consultant Veterinary Epidemiologist, 16866 Tramnitz, Germany
3
School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Qld 4343, Australia
4
Wildlife Consultant, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro
5
Veterinary Consultant, 06123 Perugia, Italy
6
Veterinary Administration, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors equally contributed to the paper.
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2020, 5(1), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed5010032
Received: 25 December 2019 / Revised: 1 February 2020 / Accepted: 17 February 2020 / Published: 21 February 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lyssaviruses and Rabies: Prevention, Control and Elimination)
Fox rabies has been eliminated from vast areas of West and Central Europe, but cases still occur in the Balkans. Oral vaccination is an effective method for reducing the incidence of the disease in wildlife, but it requires monitoring if bait density is adequate for the density of the wildlife reservoir. We developed a methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of aerial vaccination campaigns conducted in Montenegro during autumn 2011 and spring 2012. The effectiveness of the vaccination campaign was assessed by (i) estimating the density of baits, (ii) estimating the distribution of the red fox, (iii) identifying critical areas of insufficient bait density by combining both variables. Although the two vaccination campaigns resulted in 45% and 47% of the country’s total area not reaching recommended density of 20 baits/km2, the consecutive delivery of both campaigns reduced these “gaps” to 6%. By combining bait and reservoir density data, we were able to show that bait density was lower than fox density in only 5% of Montenegro’s territory. The methodology described can be used for real-time evaluation of aerial vaccine delivery campaigns, to identify areas with insufficient bait densities.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
rabies; vaccination campaign; Montenegro; bait density; reservoir density; fox
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Tizzani, P.; Fanelli, A.; Potzsch, C.; Henning, J.; Šašić, S.; Viviani, P.; Hrapović, M. Wildlife and Bait Density Monitoring to Describe the Effectiveness of a Rabies Vaccination Program in Foxes. Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2020, 5, 32.
Show more citation formats
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
