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Microorganisms
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Rabies Virus: Infections, Reservoirs and Vectors
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Rabies Virus: Infections, Reservoirs and Vectors

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 5985

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Nidia Aréchiga Ceballos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos (InDRE), Dirección General de Epidemiología, Secretaría de Salud, Mexico City, Mexico
Interests: zoonoses; rabies virus; one health; bats
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Rabies spreads to humans and animals through the bites and scratches of infected animals. Domestic dogs are the predominant source of rabies virus in developing countries, while wild animals are the primary carriers of rabies in developed countries.

Despite being fully preventable, dog-mediated human rabies kills tens of thousands of people every year, especially in rural and impoverished areas in Africa and Asia. This Special Issue provides readers with knowledge about the biology and epidemiology of this neglected zoonotic disease. We welcome submissions of research articles, review articles and short communications related to rabies viral infection and prevention, epidemiology, pathogenesis, immunology and the resistance of the virus.

Dr. Nidia Aréchiga Ceballos
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • rabies viral infection
  • epidemiology
  • vectors and host

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 1413 KiB  
Article
Spatial Landscape Structure Influences Cross-Species Transmission in a Rabies-like Virus Model
by Norma Rocio Forero-Muñoz, Gabriel Dansereau, Francois Viard, Emily Acheson, Patrick Leighton and Timothée Poisot
Microorganisms 2025, 13(2), 416; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13020416 - 14 Feb 2025
Viewed by 860
Abstract
In this study, we simulated biologically realistic agent-based models over neutral landscapes to examine how spatial structure affects the spread of a rabies-like virus in a two-species system. We built landscapes with varying autocorrelation levels and simulated disease dynamics using different transmission rates [...] Read more.
In this study, we simulated biologically realistic agent-based models over neutral landscapes to examine how spatial structure affects the spread of a rabies-like virus in a two-species system. We built landscapes with varying autocorrelation levels and simulated disease dynamics using different transmission rates for intra- and interspecies spread. The results were analysed based on combinations of spatial landscape structures and transmission rates, focusing on the median number of new reservoir and spillover cases. We found that both spatial landscape structures and viral transmission rates are key factors in determining the number of infected simulated agents and the epidemiological week when the highest number of cases occurs. While isolated habitat patches with elevated carrying capacity pose significant risks for viral transmission, they may also slow the spread compared to more connected patches, depending on the modelled scenario. This study highlights the importance of spatial landscape structure and viral transmission rates in cross-species spread. Our findings have implications for disease control strategies and suggest that future research should also focus on how landscape factors interact with pathogen dynamics, especially in those locations where susceptible agents could be more in contact with pathogens with high transmission rates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rabies Virus: Infections, Reservoirs and Vectors)
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17 pages, 2937 KiB  
Article
The Role of Skunks in the Epidemiology of Rabies in the State of Yucatan from 2000 to 2022: Current Perspectives and Future Research Directions
by Paola Puebla-Rodríguez, Octavio Patricio García-González, Rocío Sánchez-Sánchez, Mauricio Díaz-Sánchez, Juan Carlos Del Mazo, Isaías Sauri-González, Adriana Alonzo-Góngora, Gabriel García-Rodríguez, Irma López-Martínez and Nidia Aréchiga-Ceballos
Microorganisms 2025, 13(2), 262; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13020262 - 25 Jan 2025
Viewed by 969
Abstract
In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) bestowed upon Mexico the status of a country free from canine-transmitted human rabies; however, the lingering public health challenge in the nation continues to be the sylvatic cycle of [...] Read more.
In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) bestowed upon Mexico the status of a country free from canine-transmitted human rabies; however, the lingering public health challenge in the nation continues to be the sylvatic cycle of rabies. In Mexico, skunks play a significant role as reservoirs for four antigenic variants of the rabies virus. Nonetheless, up to this point, the specific skunk species involved in this cycle had not been accurately established. This study (2002–2022) aims to identify the taxonomy of skunk specimens diagnosed as rabies-positive in the state of Yucatan, in order to determine the species that serves as the reservoir for the Yucatan sylvatic lineage of rabies. This was achieved through the sequencing of an approximately 680 bp fragment of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome B. All samples belong to the species Spilogale angustifrons yucatanensis. This discovery offers valuable information for understanding and managing the wildlife rabies cycle in Mexico. It also contributes to an improved understanding of the taxonomy within the genus Spilogale. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rabies Virus: Infections, Reservoirs and Vectors)
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10 pages, 1658 KiB  
Article
Toxoplasma gondii and Rabies—The Parasite, the Virus, or Both?
by Ragan Wilson, Shannon Caseltine, Edith Will, Jeremiah Saliki and Ruth C. Scimeca
Microorganisms 2025, 13(1), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13010109 - 8 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1079
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite that infects a wide range of vertebrates, including humans. Although cats are the only definitive host, any warm-blooded animal can act as a paratenic host. Throughout the years, this apicomplexan parasite has been studied due to [...] Read more.
Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite that infects a wide range of vertebrates, including humans. Although cats are the only definitive host, any warm-blooded animal can act as a paratenic host. Throughout the years, this apicomplexan parasite has been studied due to its wide prevalence, zoonotic potential, and host behavioral alterations. Known for its neurological alterations, the rabies virus is one of the most recognized types of zoonosis that, although preventable, still causes deaths in humans and animals worldwide. Due to the overlapping clinical signs of these two pathogens, the objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of T. gondii DNA in cerebellum tissue collected for rabies testing; cerebellum tissue from diverse animals is often submitted for this purpose. Between May 2022 and April 2024, we tested 903 cerebellum tissue samples from 22 animal species submitted for rabies testing to the Oklahoma Animal Diagnostic Disease Laboratory. Overall, T. gondii prevalence was 3.96%, with 1.8% found in cats (Felis catus), 1.7% in dogs (Canis familiaris), 0.3% in skunks (Mephitis mephitis), and 0.2% in infected cattle (Bos taurus). Analysis among T. gondii-positive hosts revealed a statistically significant difference in dogs when comparing neutered vs. intact males, with 7.94% (5/63) T. gondii-positive neutered males and 1.61% (3/186) T. gondii-positive intact males (p = 0.02). All the T. gondii-positive samples were negative for rabies. Anamnesis in some of the T. gondii-positive samples included ataxia, aggression, muscle rigidity, lethargy, and seizures, with the latter also described in dogs and aggression in the positive bovine sample. The clinical signs described in the T. gondii-infected hosts can be mistaken for rabies infection; therefore, it is important to consider T. gondii as a differential diagnosis in suspected rabies cases and test for this parasite when negative rabies results are obtained. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rabies Virus: Infections, Reservoirs and Vectors)
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Review

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20 pages, 600 KiB  
Review
Infection and Prevention of Rabies Viruses
by Shiu-Jau Chen, Chung-I Rai, Shao-Cheng Wang and Yuan-Chuan Chen
Microorganisms 2025, 13(2), 380; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13020380 - 9 Feb 2025
Viewed by 2321
Abstract
Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease and causes about 59,000 human deaths globally every year. Especially, its mortality is almost 100% in cases where the rabies virus has transmitted to the central nervous system. The special virus life cycle and pathogenic mechanism make [...] Read more.
Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease and causes about 59,000 human deaths globally every year. Especially, its mortality is almost 100% in cases where the rabies virus has transmitted to the central nervous system. The special virus life cycle and pathogenic mechanism make it difficult for the host immune system to combat rabies viruses. Vaccination including pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis is an effective strategy for rabies prevention. The pre-exposure vaccination is mainly applied for animals and the post-exposure vaccination is the most application for humans. Although rabies vaccines are widely used and seem to be safe and effective, there are some disadvantages, limitations, or challenges affecting vaccine promotion and distribution. Therefore, more effective, convenient, safer, and cheaper rabies vaccines have been developed or are being developed. The development of novel human rabies vaccine is mainly focusing on vaccines based on a purified Vero cell-cultured freeze-dried rabies vaccine (PVRV). PVRV has been demonstrated to be promising to make the rabies vaccine more effective and secure in animal studies or clinical trials. Moreover, mRNA-based vaccines have been shown to have the potential to enhance the safety and efficacy of rabies vaccines for both animal and human uses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rabies Virus: Infections, Reservoirs and Vectors)
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