The Importance of Accurate Host Species Identification in the Framework of Rabies Surveillance, Control and Elimination

Accurate host identification is paramount to understand disease epidemiology and to apply appropriate control measures. This is especially important for multi-host pathogens such as the rabies virus, a major and almost invariably fatal zoonosis that has mobilized unanimous engagement at an internati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Viruses Vol. 14; no. 3; p. 492
Main Authors: De Benedictis, Paola, Leopardi, Stefania, Markotter, Wanda, Velasco-Villa, Andres
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 28.02.2022
MDPI
Subjects:
Africa South of the Sahara
Animals
Biodiversity
COVID-19
Cytochrome
Cytochrome b
Cytochrome-c oxidase
Dog Diseases - diagnosis
Dog Diseases - epidemiology
Dog Diseases - prevention & control
Dogs
Endangered & extinct species
Epidemiology
host identification
hosts
Humans
Identification
infectious diseases
International organizations
Keys
Laboratories
monitoring
Pathogens
Rabies
Rabies - epidemiology
Rabies - prevention & control
Rabies - veterinary
Rabies lyssavirus
Rabies virus
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
species identification
Sub-Saharan Africa
Surveillance
Taxonomy
Viruses
Wildlife conservation
wildlife reservoir
Zoonoses
Zoonoses - epidemiology
Zoonoses - prevention & control
Africa South of the Sahara
Brazil
United States > US
Germany
Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
epidemiology
rabies
wildlife reservoir
host identification
infectious diseases
ISSN:1999-4915, 1999-4915
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Accurate host identification is paramount to understand disease epidemiology and to apply appropriate control measures. This is especially important for multi-host pathogens such as the rabies virus, a major and almost invariably fatal zoonosis that has mobilized unanimous engagement at an international level towards the final goal of zero human deaths due to canine rabies. Currently, diagnostic laboratories implement a standardized identification using taxonomic keys. However, this method is challenged by high and undiscovered biodiversity, decomposition of carcasses and subjective misevaluation, as has been attested to by findings from a cohort of 242 archived specimens collected across Sub-Saharan Africa and submitted for rabies diagnosis. We applied two simple and cheap methods targeting the Cytochrome b and Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I to confirm the initial classification. We therefore suggest prioritizing a standardized protocol that includes, as a first step, the implementation of taxonomic keys at a family or subfamily level, followed by the molecular characterization of the host species.
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ISSN:1999-4915
1999-4915
DOI:10.3390/v14030492