| Summary: | Rabies is a fatal disease that affects the central nervous system of all warmblooded mammals. The rabies virus belongs to the order Mononegavirales, family Rhabdoviridae, genus Lyssavirus. This virus has a negative single-stranded RNA genome and the virions are bullet-shaped. Rabies is reported in many countries throughout the world and has been registered in all continents except Australia, where only the bat Lyssaviruses have been found, and in Antarctica where the main vectors of rabies are absent. Russia and most of the bordering countries are affected by rabies. Finland was a rabies-free country from 1959 to 1988, when a sylvatic rabies epidemic appeared with raccoon dogs as the main host and vector of infection. That epidemic was eradicated by the oral vaccination of wild carnivores and the parenteral immunization of dogs and cats; and Finland has been rabies-free since 1991. However, this status is constantly under threat because rabies is endemic in Russia and Estonia. In June 2003, a horse imported to Finland from Estonia was clinically and laboratory diagnosed as rabies positive. The close relationship of the isolated equine virus strain with the current Estonian strains was verified during subsequent molecular epidemiological studies. Because the case was imported, it did not affect Finland’s rabies-free status. Also in 2007 another 2 imported cases of rabies were recorded: one in a human being from Philippines and the other in a dog from India. Five different antigenic variants of the rabies virus were identified among rabies positive field samples from Russia, Finland, and Estonia by using antinucleocapsid monoclonal antibodies. Two rabies virus field isolates showed a different reaction pattern that was similar to that of the vaccine strains of the SAD group, which might suggest a new antigen variant or reverted vaccine strain. Nevertheless, the sequence analysis showed that the vaccine strains RV-97 and SAD B19 included in the oral anti-rabies vaccine “Sinrab” (Russia) and “Fuchsoral” (Germany), ...
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