Cat infected by a variant of bat rabies virus in a 29-year disease-free urban area of southern Brazil

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: Vivien Midori Morikawa, Juliano Ribeiro, Alexander Welker Biondo, Anaclete Fellini, Daniele Bier, Marcelo Beltrão Molento
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 2012
• Subjects: Raiva felina; Morcegos não-hematófagos; Vigilância epidemiológica; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0037-86822012000200022; https://doaj.org/article/c666ef8c272a43acb0048ae903342a61

INTRODUCTION: After 29 years, rabies was detected in a cat in Curitiba, southern Brazil. METHODS: The fluorescent antibody test (FAT) and mouse inoculation test (MIT) were performed on central nervous system (CNS) samples. RESULTS: Direct immunofluorescence was negative, but the biological test was positive and rabies virus was characterized as variant 4 (from Tadarida brasiliensis). CONCLUSIONS: Reappearance of rabies in domestic animals warns of sylvatic-aerial risk of infection and the necessity of monitoring bats in historically rabies-free areas.