Prevalence and public health significance of rabies virus in bats in the North Region of Cameroon.
Background Rabies is a zoonotic disease of all warm-blooded animals including humans. There is a paucity of data on the status of rabies in wild animals in Cameroon and the disease is endemic in the country with dogs being the main source of transmission. Bat habitats are widespread in Cameroon, but...
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2023
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0bd4b6e3f33740b5ab36cbe3c9a0beb7 2023-12-31T10:04:18+01:00 Prevalence and public health significance of rabies virus in bats in the North Region of Cameroon. Isaac Dah Rodrigue Simonet Poueme Namegni Mohamed Moctar Mouiche Mouliom Simon Dickmu Jumbo Ranyl Nguena Guefack Noumedem Isabelle Conclois Liegeois Florian Laurent God-Yang Jean Marc Kameni Feussom Abel Wade Dorothée Missé Julius Awah-Ndukum 2023-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010803 https://doaj.org/article/0bd4b6e3f33740b5ab36cbe3c9a0beb7 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0010803&type=printable https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010803 https://doaj.org/article/0bd4b6e3f33740b5ab36cbe3c9a0beb7 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 17, Iss 10, p e0010803 (2023) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010803 2023-12-03T01:41:39Z Background Rabies is a zoonotic disease of all warm-blooded animals including humans. There is a paucity of data on the status of rabies in wild animals in Cameroon and the disease is endemic in the country with dogs being the main source of transmission. Bat habitats are widespread in Cameroon, but there is limited information on the prevalence of rabies in bats, and their role of as potential reservoirs of rabies virus. Methods A cross sectional study was carried out to estimate the prevalence and to assess risk factors of rabies virus in bats in the North Region of Cameroon. A total of 212 bats belonging to three families (Pteropodidae, Vespertilionidae and Molossidae) and 5 species were sampled in 7 localities in the North Region of Cameroon and were tested for rabies virus antigen using direct Immunofluorescence Test (IFA). Results Overall, 26.9% (57/212) of the bats collected showed an IFA positive reaction. The prevalence was significantly higher (P<0.05) in adult bats (33.3% (36/108)) compared to young individuals (20.2%; 21/104). The main risk factors identified in the study for human exposure to bats were gender (Male), religion (Christianity), localities (Babla and Lagdo), the practice of bat hunting, bat consumption, unawareness of bat rabies and cohabitation with bats in close proximity. Conclusion The study revealed the first evidence of Lyssavirus in bats in Cameroon. This finding showed that bat rabies are real and represents a potential public health concern in communities with bat habitats in the North Region of Cameroon. Enhancing the level of public awareness and health education on the potential of bats as reservoirs of Lyssavirus in Cameroon as well as the integration of the "One Health" approach for effective management of animal and human rabies should be emphasized. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 17 10 e0010803 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Isaac Dah Rodrigue Simonet Poueme Namegni Mohamed Moctar Mouiche Mouliom Simon Dickmu Jumbo Ranyl Nguena Guefack Noumedem Isabelle Conclois Liegeois Florian Laurent God-Yang Jean Marc Kameni Feussom Abel Wade Dorothée Missé Julius Awah-Ndukum Prevalence and public health significance of rabies virus in bats in the North Region of Cameroon. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Background Rabies is a zoonotic disease of all warm-blooded animals including humans. There is a paucity of data on the status of rabies in wild animals in Cameroon and the disease is endemic in the country with dogs being the main source of transmission. Bat habitats are widespread in Cameroon, but there is limited information on the prevalence of rabies in bats, and their role of as potential reservoirs of rabies virus. Methods A cross sectional study was carried out to estimate the prevalence and to assess risk factors of rabies virus in bats in the North Region of Cameroon. A total of 212 bats belonging to three families (Pteropodidae, Vespertilionidae and Molossidae) and 5 species were sampled in 7 localities in the North Region of Cameroon and were tested for rabies virus antigen using direct Immunofluorescence Test (IFA). Results Overall, 26.9% (57/212) of the bats collected showed an IFA positive reaction. The prevalence was significantly higher (P<0.05) in adult bats (33.3% (36/108)) compared to young individuals (20.2%; 21/104). The main risk factors identified in the study for human exposure to bats were gender (Male), religion (Christianity), localities (Babla and Lagdo), the practice of bat hunting, bat consumption, unawareness of bat rabies and cohabitation with bats in close proximity. Conclusion The study revealed the first evidence of Lyssavirus in bats in Cameroon. This finding showed that bat rabies are real and represents a potential public health concern in communities with bat habitats in the North Region of Cameroon. Enhancing the level of public awareness and health education on the potential of bats as reservoirs of Lyssavirus in Cameroon as well as the integration of the "One Health" approach for effective management of animal and human rabies should be emphasized. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Isaac Dah Rodrigue Simonet Poueme Namegni Mohamed Moctar Mouiche Mouliom Simon Dickmu Jumbo Ranyl Nguena Guefack Noumedem Isabelle Conclois Liegeois Florian Laurent God-Yang Jean Marc Kameni Feussom Abel Wade Dorothée Missé Julius Awah-Ndukum |
author_facet |
Isaac Dah Rodrigue Simonet Poueme Namegni Mohamed Moctar Mouiche Mouliom Simon Dickmu Jumbo Ranyl Nguena Guefack Noumedem Isabelle Conclois Liegeois Florian Laurent God-Yang Jean Marc Kameni Feussom Abel Wade Dorothée Missé Julius Awah-Ndukum |
author_sort |
Isaac Dah |
title |
Prevalence and public health significance of rabies virus in bats in the North Region of Cameroon. |
title_short |
Prevalence and public health significance of rabies virus in bats in the North Region of Cameroon. |
title_full |
Prevalence and public health significance of rabies virus in bats in the North Region of Cameroon. |
title_fullStr |
Prevalence and public health significance of rabies virus in bats in the North Region of Cameroon. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Prevalence and public health significance of rabies virus in bats in the North Region of Cameroon. |
title_sort |
prevalence and public health significance of rabies virus in bats in the north region of cameroon. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010803 https://doaj.org/article/0bd4b6e3f33740b5ab36cbe3c9a0beb7 |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 17, Iss 10, p e0010803 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0010803&type=printable https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010803 https://doaj.org/article/0bd4b6e3f33740b5ab36cbe3c9a0beb7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010803 |
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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17 |
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10 |
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e0010803 |
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