Elimination of Arctic Variant Rabies in Red Foxes, Metropolitan Toronto

To control the arctic variant of rabies virus in red foxes, 332,257 bait doses containing live, attenuated Evelyn-Rokitnicki-Abelseth rabies vaccine were distributed in greater metropolitan Toronto during 1989–1999. Human and pet contact with bait was minimal, and no adverse reactions to the vaccine...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging Infectious Diseases
Main Authors: R. C. Rosatte, M. J. Power, D. Donovan, J. C. Davies, M. Allan, P. Bachmann, B. Stevenson, A. Wandeler, F. Muldoon
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2007
Subjects:
Ontario
rabies
red fox
Vulpes vulpes
research
Canada
Medicine
R
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Arctic
Evelyn
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1301.060622
https://doaj.org/article/cd673621a4a041379048699cece0e5c1
Description
Summary:To control the arctic variant of rabies virus in red foxes, 332,257 bait doses containing live, attenuated Evelyn-Rokitnicki-Abelseth rabies vaccine were distributed in greater metropolitan Toronto during 1989–1999. Human and pet contact with bait was minimal, and no adverse reactions to the vaccine were noted. Significantly fewer rabid foxes were found during the 17 years after fox baiting (5 cases during 1990–2006) than in the 17 years before (96 cases during 1973–1989). The last report of a rabid fox in metropolitan Toronto was in 1996 (reporting period through September 2006), which confirms that distributing oral rabies vaccine bait is a feasible tactic for the control of rabies in foxes in urban environments.

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