Finally, oral rabies vaccination (ORV) of wildlife limits and prevents the spread of rabies virus among terrestrial meso-carnivore populations and reduces risks of spill-over infections into domestic animal and human populations. Vaccination of domestic pets and livestock provides an added layer of protection. The first steps to prevention are education about avoiding contact with suspect rabid animals, wound washing if exposure occurs, and provision of pre- and post-exposure rabies prophylaxis. Preventing human rabies deaths requires a combination of approaches. Rabies is distributed widely on all continents except Antarctica and demonstrates both host species and geographic variation in viral genetics. Rabies viruses cause acute, fatal encephalitis in mammals.

Currently, rabies virus is recognized as the most important lyssavirus species, given its high disease burden (i.e., mortality rate) among humans, domestic animals and wildlife. Lyssaviruses are perpetuated by low level transmission within susceptible mammalian reservoir species populations, primarily meso-carnivores and bats. Globally, rabies is a neglected zoonotic disease of significant public health importance caused by enveloped single negative-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses in the genus Lyssavirus, family Rhabdoviridae.

This paper: (1) reviews the development and historical use of RABORAL V-RG (2) highlights wildlife rabies control programs using the vaccine in multiple species and countries and (3) discusses current and future challenges faced by programs seeking to control or eliminate wildlife rabies. RABORAL V-RG has also been used to control wildlife rabies in Israel for more than a decade. A long-term ORV barrier program in the USA using RABORAL V-RG is preventing substantial geographic expansion of the raccoon rabies virus variant. An oral rabies vaccination program in west-central Texas has essentially eliminated the gray fox rabies virus variant from Texas with the last case reported in a cow during 2009. Field application of RABORAL V-RG has contributed to the elimination of wildlife rabies from three European countries (Belgium, France and Luxembourg) and of the dog/coyote rabies virus variant from the United States of America (USA). The liquid vaccine is packaged inside edible baits (i.e., RABORAL V-RG, the vaccine-bait product) which are distributed into wildlife habitats for consumption by target species. Immunogenicity and efficacy have been demonstrated under laboratory and field conditions in multiple target species (including fox, raccoon, coyote, skunk, raccoon dog, and jackal). Safety of V-RG has been evaluated in over 50 vertebrate species, including non-human primates, with no adverse effects observed regardless of route or dose. V-RG is genetically stable, is not detected in the oral cavity beyond 48В h after ingestion, is not shed by vaccinates into the environment, and has been tested for thermostability under a range of laboratory and field conditions. Approximately 250 million doses have been distributed globally since 1987 without any reports of adverse reactions in wildlife or domestic animals since the first licensed recombinant oral rabies vaccine (ORV) was released into the environment to immunize wildlife populations against rabies. RABORAL V-RG В® is an oral rabies vaccine bait that contains an attenuated (вЂњmodified-liveвЂќ) recombinant vaccinia virus vector vaccine expressing the rabies virus glycoprotein gene (V-RG).

Rabies Vaccine Serial Numbers