Rabies virus carriage in domestic dogs and distribution of positive dogs in Lufenng, Yunnan

Objective To understand the natural carriage status of rabies virus in domestic dogs and the distribution of positive dogs Lufeng, Yunnan province, and provide evidence for the development of rabies control measures. Methods Dog brain samples were collected to detect rabies virus antigen with direct immunofluorescence assaay (DFA) in domestic dogs culled in 8 villages from 12 to 18 in March 2013. The household surveys of re-raising of dogs were carried out 3 months, 6 months and one year respectively after dog culling. Results Totally 1103 dogs were killed and 542 dog brain samples were collected in the 8 villages. Among the collected brain samples, 24 were rabies virus positive by DFA (4.43%). The positive dogs were distributed discretely. The positive rate was as high as 9.09% in one village. The numbers of dog raising households and dogs raised were equal to 80.38% and 61.92% of those before culling only after one year and the number of dogs raised was 0.56 per household compared with 0.90 before culling. Conclusion The rabies virus carrying rate was not high in the domestic dogs and the positive dogs were distributed discretely in Lufeng county. No proportional relationship existed between the positive rate and the distance to epidemic areas. Dog culling, would disrupt the social stability, is not a scientific rabies control strategy due to its little influence on dog control and the potential to bring new risk factors resulting from dog importation.