Animal rabies in the city of Rio de Janeiro: emergency of the disease in bats and the new challenges for its control

Abstract

Acute infectious disease of viral etiology, the rabies, affects mammals including man, and it is characterized by neurological symptoms resulting from encephalopathy and it causes lethality of nearly 100 %. Being a zoonosis with different animal species serving as a reservoir, its control requires measures aimed at reducing the virus in species of greatest epidemiological relevance. In the city of Rio de Janeiro, the rabies is under epidemiological control at its urban form, where dogs are the main source of infection. However, recently this disease has been found in domestic animals such as horses, cattle and pigs, transmitted by haematophagous bats, and non-haematophagous bats, which is pointing to the importance of the wild cycle of rabies and the need for a better understanding of the epidemiological profile of this disease. This paper reports the occurrence of 14 cases of rabies in animals in the city of Rio de Janeiro in 2011 and 2012. It highlights the importance of the haematophagous bat Desmodus rotundus in disease transmission, describing the viral spreading in the municipal territory and the potential reintroduction of rabies in the city from the wild environment, which pose new challenges to public health professionals who work in this area.