Abstract:
Introduction
Rabies is one of the dreaded infectious diseases,
which progress into invariably fatal encephalo- -myelitis. Understanding population-wide trends
in prevalence of rabies is vital for planning public
health approaches for disease prevention and
policy making. Hence this study was aimed to
estimate the prevalence of animal rabies and its
associated factors in Southern Sri Lanka.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey was done based on data
retrieved from the archived patient and laboratory
records for the period of January 2021 to December
2023, at the rabies unit in National Hospital,
Galle, the sole rabies diagnostic unit in Southern
Province. Data were analyzed by descriptive
statistics.
Results
A total of 641 brain stem specimens from dogs
(Canis familiaris; 54.6%), cats (Felis catus; 41.5%),
rabbits (Lepus nigricollis; 0.6%), guinea pigs
(Cavia porcellus; 0.2%), cattle (Boss spp.; 0.3%),
squirrels (Ratufa macroura; 1.9%) and mongoose
(Herpestes smithii; 0.8%), were received during
the study period.
Among them, 48%, 38% and 41% were confirmed
positive for rabies by Seller’s staining and/or
direct fluorescent antibody test in year 2021,
2022 and 2023, respectively. Most of them were
received from Baddegama, Elpitiya and Galle
MOH areas in Galle district (71%). The reduction
in prevalence of animal rabies from 2021 to 2023
was statistically significant (p <0.05). Majority
of
the positive cases (84.3%) were of canine in
origin and from domesticated animals (50.6%).
More than 90% of the positive cases were from
the animals which were non-vaccinated or without
a
vaccination history. However, 1.7% of the
positive cases were reported from the vaccinated
animals.
Conclusions
This study highlights the prevalence of rabies
in non-vaccinated domestic animals with a
substantial percentage in dogs, although it shows
a reduction in total number of positive cases with
