Surveillance of human rabies in Jinhua, Zhejiang, 2011

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of human rabies and post exposure prophylaxis in Jinhua in 2011 and provide evidence for the prevention and control of rabies. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on the surveillance data of human rabies in Jinhua during this period. Results Four cases of human rabies were reported, all cases were fatal. The saliva samples of the cases were tested to be rabies virus RNA positive. Totally 60 866 people were exposed to rabies potentially with the rate of 1474.61/lakh. The disease mainly occurred in summer, most cases were young and middle aged adults from 20 to 59 years old (57.88%).The potential exposure rate was highest in age group 0-9 years (2322.58/lakh). The majority of the cases were farmers, accounting for 66.34% and dogs were the main animals biting people, accounting for 92.40%. The wound grade Ⅲ accounted for 18.18%. The injection rate of rabies immunoglobulin was 21.67% and varied with area. Six events of one dog biting multi people were reported. The brain tissue samples were collected from 5 dogs, all the samples were rabies virus RNA positive. Conclusion The epidemic of rabies in Jinhua was serious, it is necessary to strengthen the prevention and control of rabies.