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A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
Date: 29 Mar 2009
Source: Personal communication from the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture and Water Resources Department of Livestock, Kaduna
Nigeria [edited]
Human butchering and consumption of animals potentially infected with
rabies and other zoonotic viruses is not limited to Asia. In Nigeria,
dog eating is very common in states such as Plateau, Akwa Ibom, Cross
River, Kaduna, Kebbi and Ondo. In fact, dog suya (barbequed dog meat)
is sold publicly in the dog eating areas. In some areas such as Jos,
only local and seasoned connoisseurs may easily distinguish
restaurants where dog and other conventional meats are sold. Cat
eating, though not as common as dog eating, can also be encountered,
even in cosmopolitan places such as Lagos. While human consumption of
bats is also common, there seems to have been little or no local
effort (as per the limited information available) to evaluate the
risk of rabies transmission.
Rabies is no doubt underreported and probably misdiagnosed in Nigeria
and elsewhere in Africa (Asselbergs 2007 and the references therein).
Cultural and religious beliefs will also contribute to the
underreporting of human rabies that may arise from the consumption of
infected apparently healthy dogs and cats. The [rabies-related
lyssaviruses] Lagos bat and Mokola viruses still remain
under-diagnosed in the human populace.
The paper by Ajayi, Rabo and Baba (2006) also indicates a disturbing
possibility of transmission of rabies by apparently healthy (free of
overt rabies signs) stray dogs. If their observations are confirmed,
this, in their words, "signifies a new dimension in the epidemiology
of the disease in this environment where the high-risk practices are
prevalent." What's more intriguing epidemiologically and culturally
is that their research was carried out in Maiduguri; the overwhelming
Muslim population in the city provide zero economic incentives for
dog meat restaurants. However, the dogs were slaughtered in
restaurants associated with 2 military barracks in the city.
In summary, the situation reported in Viet Nam, Nigeria, etc. only
reaffirms that rabies is more of a neglected tropical disease than
thought and which deserves attention.
References:
Ajayi BB, Rabo JS, Baba SS. Rabies in apparently healthy dogs:
histological and immunohistochemical studies. The Nigerian
Postgraduate Medical Journal. 2006 Jun;13(2):128-34.
Asselbergs M. Rabies awareness. The Veterinary Record 2007 Sep
22;161(12):4322.
[AbdulKareem Durosinloun; Federal ministry of Agriculture and Water
Resources Department of Livestock; Kaduna Nigeria]
Communicated by:
Shamsudeen Fagbo
Dept. of Tropical Veterinary Diseases
University of Pretoria South Africa
[We appreciate Dr. Fagbo updating us on this situation in countries
other than Asia. Sadly, the underreporting of rabies in animals and
people is a trend not likely to disappear any time soon. - Mod.TG]
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