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A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
Date: 11 Jun 2009
From: Jack Woodall
Re: Rabies, canine - Angola: (LU) OIE
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This OIE report states: "Vaccinations in response to the outbreak(s)
in Luanda: 4457 cats vaccinated in all the municipalities of Luanda
province; 108 531 dogs vaccinated in all the municipalities of Luanda
province; ***901 wild monkeys vaccinated***" (my emphasis).
CDC says: "Cases of monkey-transmitted human rabies are rare;
however, one extremely long incubation period (37.5 months) was
reported (Wilson JM, Hettiarachchi J, Wijesuriya LM. Presenting
features and diagnosis of rabies. Lancet 1975;2:1139-40). CDC also
reports a human fatality in 1987 in Australia after a bite from a
monkey in a market in India, but none since (CDC (1988) Imported
Human Rabies -- Australia, 1987 Vol.37(22);351-3
The island of Bali, Indonesia has recently been experiencing a rabies
outbreak in dogs, reported by ProMED. Soegiarto, head of the
Denpasar-based Veterinary Main Office in Bali, recently urged local
authorities to monitor areas where tourists go to view wild monkeys,
while admitting that: "In countries affected by rabies outbreaks,
such as India and Pakistan, cases of rabies among monkeys have
***never*** been reported" (my emphasis)
As visitors and residents of India and Thailand know, there are many
monkey temples in those countries, wherein feral macaques mix with
stray dogs, which are a major source of human rabies in those
countries, but no rabies has been reported in the monkeys.
I am not aware of such places in Angola. So can anyone explain the
rationale behind spending a considerable amount of money to trap and
vaccinate nearly 1000 wild monkeys there?
Jack Woodall
Associate Editor, ProMED-mail
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