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Through the ages, rabies has exemplified the danger of diseases that transfer from wild animals to humans and their domestic stock. In South Africa, rabies has been on the rise since the latter part of the twentieth century despite the availability of postexposurevaccines and regular inoculation campaigns for dogs.InMad Dogs and Meerkats: A History of Resurgent Rabies in Southern Africa,Karen Brownlinks the increase of rabies to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Her study shows that the most afflictedregions of South Africa have seen a dangerous rise in feral dog populations as people lack the education, means, or will to care for their pets or take them to inoculation centers. Most victims are poor black children. Ineffective disease control, which in part depends on management policies in neighboring states and the diminished medical and veterinary infrastructures in Zimbabwe, has exacerbated the problem.This highly readable book is the first study of rabies in Africa, tracing its history in South Africa and neighboring states from 1800 to the present and showing how environmental and economicchanges brought about by European colonialism and global trade have had long-term effects.Mad Dogs and Meerkatsis recommended for public health policy makers and anyone interested in human-animal relations and how societies and governmentshave reacted to one of the world's most feared diseases.

One Health is particularly relevant to the Horn of Africa where many people's livelihoods are highly dependent on livestock and their shared environment. In this context, zoonoses may have a dramatic impact on both human and animal health, but also on country economies. This scoping review aimed to characterise and evaluate the nature of zoonotic disease research in the Horn region. Specifically, it addressed the following questions: (i) what specific zoonotic diseases have been prioritised for research, (ii) what data have been reported (human, animal or environment), (iii) what methods have been applied, and (iv) who has been doing the research? We used keyword combinations to search online databases for peer-reviewed papers and theses. Screening and data extraction (disease, country, domain and method) was performed using DistillerSR. A total of 2055 studies focusing on seven countries and over 60 zoonoses were included. Brucellosis attracted the highest attention in terms of research while anthrax, Q fever and leptospirosis have been comparatively under-studied. Research efforts did not always align with zoonoses priorities identified at national levels. Despite zoonoses being a clear target for 'One Health' research, a very limited proportion of studies report data on the three domains of human, animal and environment. Descriptive and observational epidemiological studies were dominant and only a low proportion of publications were multidisciplinary. Finally, we found that a minority of international collaborations were between Global South countries with a high proportion of authors having affiliations from outside the Horn of Africa. There is a growing interest in zoonoses research in the Horn of Africa. Recommendations arising from this scoping review include: (i) ensuring zoonoses research aligns with national and global research agendas; (ii) encouraging researchers to adopt a holistic, transdisciplinary One Health approach following high quality reporting standards (COHERE, PRISMA, etc.); and (iii) empowering local researchers supported by regional and international partnerships to engage in zoonoses research.

Objective Rabies is one of the viral diseases with the highest case fatality rate in humans. The main transmission route to humans is through bites, especially of infected dogs. Decisions on the allocation of resources to control and reduce the socio-economic impacts of rabies require reliable data. Several national, regional and international organizations have been gathering rabies data for more than a decade. The objective of this paper was to examine the consistencies in the number of dog rabies cases reported to different multinational organizations by Southern and Eastern African countries and to explore the presence of any time trend among the reported rabies data. Results Data was systematically extracted from the databases of the Southern and Eastern African Rabies Group—SEARG and the World Organization for Animal Health/World animal health information—OIE/WAHID. Despite differences in entities by which data have been reported to the two organisations, reported numbers were significantly correlated (Spearman’s rho = 0.52, P < 0.001). The reported data did not indicate the presence of any trend in the number of reported dog rabies outbreaks. Inconsistencies in the reported numbers were observed between the databases, possibly due to the fact that human and animal health authorities report separately to the organisations involved in addition to the use of indefinite definitions of report categories set by report receiving organizations.

Mokola virus (MOKV) appears to be exclusive to Africa. Although the first isolates were from Nigeria and other Congo basin countries, all reports over the past 20 years have been from southern Africa. Previous phylogenetic studies analyzed few isolates or used partial gene sequence for analysis since limited sequence information is available for MOKV and the isolates were distributed among various laboratories. The complete nucleoprotein, phosphoprotein, matrix and glycoprotein genes of 18 MOKV isolates in various laboratories were sequenced either using partial or full genome sequencing using pyrosequencing and a phylogenetic analysis was undertaken. The results indicated that MOKV isolates from the Republic of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic and Nigeria clustered according to geographic origin irrespective of the genes used for phylogenetic analysis, similar to that observed with Lagos bat virus. A Bayesian Markov-Chain-Monte-Carlo- (MCMC) analysis revealed the age of the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of MOKV to be between 279 and 2034 years depending on the genes used. Generally, all MOKV isolates showed a similar pattern at the amino acid sites considered influential for viral properties.

Recent studies have highlighted the epidemiology of rabies in southern Africa and the unique nature of kudu rabies in Namibia. However, the serious effect on human populations in northern Namibia lacks focused attention. This study surveyed knowledge and awareness of rabies, including its prevention and pet care in two towns in the Oshana Region of Namibia. Of the 245 interviewed, two thirds owned at least one dog, while a third owned a cat. Eighty-one per cent allowed their animals to roam freely, while 14% reported having been bitten by a dog. The majority of those surveyed recognised that rabies is caused by a virus (53%), identifed a dog bite as the main means of transmission (90.6%), cited wild animals as reservoirs (75.5%) and knew that dogs and jackals are signifcant reservoirs (96.3%). Only 35 (14.3%) identifed the correct answers to all four questions. Most of the study participants (63.3%) received their information about rabies from the media. While 83% knew that free vaccines are available at government offces, only 37% had vaccinated their pets, and only 6% had been vaccinated themselves. The results indicate a general understanding of rabies, but focused education efforts are needed with respect to community members in order for specifc points to be clarifed. The high level of knowledge of vaccine availability, but low coverage, indicates the need for mobilisation with regard to at-risk populations. By building on what is already known, future programmes should successfully reach populations throughout northern Namibia and control rabies in the future.

\"In Mad Dogs and Meerkats, Karen Brown links the increase of rabies in Southern Africa to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Her study shows that the most afflicted regions of South Africa have seen a dangerous rise in feral dog populations as people lack the education, means, or will to care for their pets or take them to inoculation centers. Ineffective disease control, which in part depends on management policies in neighboring states, has exacerbated the problem. The book traces the history of rabies in South Africa and neighboring states from 1800 to the present and shows how environmental and economic changes brought about by European colonialism and global trade have had long-term effects\"--Provided by publisher.

Rabies enzootics in southern Africa are associated with two genetically distinct groups of viruses, thought to be adapted to two different sets of host species. The virus groups are referred to as the canid biotype (infecting carnivores of the family Canidae) and the viverrid biotype (infecting carnivores of the subfamily Viverrinae). Cross- or spillover infections of one biotype into the host range of the other are thought to occur from time to time. However, very little is known about this phenomenon and its role in the epidemiology of rabies in southern Africa. We have investigated spillover by monoclonal antibody and nucleic acid sequence analysis of a wide range of virus isolates. Although the inverse had been documented, this report constitutes the first evidence of spillover of canid biotype viruses into viverrid hosts. Our genetic analysis was focused specifically on the G-L intergenic region of the virus genome, thought to be a remnant or pseudogene and it was indicated that, with respect to this region of the genome, spillover does not influence the phylogeny of virus isolates.