| Summary: | Rabies causes fatal encephalitis in all warm-blooded animals, including humans. It is thought to have entered southern Africa in 1892 with a domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) from England; however, rabies was most likely present in yellow mongoose (Cynictis penicillata) before that time in southern Africa. Following the spread of disease in dogs, rabies emerged in cattle, back-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) and side-striped jackal (Canis adustus) in Namibia, Zimbabwe and northern part of Botswana and parts of North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa. Rabies also occurs in a variety of other wildlife hosts in South Africa. Rabies cases in all animals from 1993 to 2019 in South Africa were reviewed and analysed using a spatiotemporal cluster analysis using a discrete Poisson space-time probability model on monthly aggregated cases. Dog and livestock density were used as an estimation of the population at risk. A total of 11 701 cases were identified to species level. Thirteen primary clusters (p<0.05) were identified, of which four were long term clusters lasting more than 8 years and seven were short term clusters lasting less than 2 years. Domestic dogs accounted for 60% of all rabies cases. Wildlife was responsible for 15.8% of cases, with yellow mongoose the most frequently affected species, followed by bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis), black-backed jackal, meerkat (Suricata suricatta) and aardwolf (Proteles cristatus). Wildlife species affected by rabies followed different spatial distributions. Bat-eared fox and aardwolf predominated in western South Africa and yellow mongoose in central South Africa, and jackals mostly predominated in north-western South Africa, in both the Gauteng and North West provinces. To investigate the feasibility of implementing oral rabies vaccination in jackals in Gauteng province, factors associated with the uptake of oral bait by free-ranging jackal and other wildlife species were evaluated in a multi-site field study. Three different baits were ...
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