Kennedy Lushasi, Kirstyn Brunker, Malavika Rajeev, Elaine A Ferguson, Gurdeep Jaswant, Laurie Louise Baker, Roman Biek, Joel Changalucha, Sarah Cleaveland, Anna Czupryna, Anthony R Fooks, Nicodemus J Govella, Daniel T Haydon, Paul C D Johnson, Rudovick Kazwala, Tiziana Lembo, Denise Marston, Msanif Masoud, Matthew Maziku, Eberhard Mbunda, Geofrey Mchau, Ally Z Mohamed, Emmanuel Mpolya, Chanasa Ngeleja, Kija Ng'habi, Hezron Nonga, Kassim Omar, Kristyna Rysava, Maganga Sambo, Lwitiko Sikana, Rachel Steenson, Katie Hampson
BACKGROUND: Dog-mediated rabies is endemic across Africa causing thousands of human deaths annually. A One Health approach to rabies is advocated, comprising emergency post-exposure vaccination of bite victims and mass dog vaccination to break the transmission cycle. However, the impacts and cost-effectiveness of these components are difficult to disentangle. METHODS: We combined contact tracing with whole-genome sequencing to track rabies transmission in the animal reservoir and spillover risk to humans from 2010-2020, investigating how the components of a One Health approach reduced the disease burden and eliminated rabies from Pemba Island, Tanzania...
May 25, 2023: ELife