Author(s): H Marasini
A two-year-round retrospective study was done to determine the prevalence of rabies among owned dogs in Chitwan, Nepal. Total 196 dog bite cases were reported between March-2018 to February-2020 to Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Service Expert Center (VHLSEC, Nepal Government) and Veterinary Teaching Hospital of Agriculture and Forestry University, Chitwan. Cases reported with history of dog bites, suspected behavioral symptoms and confirmed positives to Rapid Rabies Ag Test Kit were thoroughly studied and relevant data were analyzed using MS-Excel 2016 and SPSS v.25. The study revealed a surprisingly overall prevalence of 6.1% of rabies in family owned dogs of Chitwan. Majority of reported cases were of dogs upto 3 years of age (60.7%) with highest prevalence i.e. 58.3% among all rabies positive cases, while eldest dogs (6 years and above) had least positive cases (16.7%). Similarly, 68.7% rabid dogs were found to be males. Furthermore, season-wise study showed the highest prevalence (50.0%) during winter season followed by autumn (25.0%), summer (16.7%) and spring (8.3). Despite being a 100% vaccine preventable zoonotic disease and the fact that the study was done only among family owned dogs, such higher prevalence hints the owner’s negligence towards the pets which stands as a threat in achieving our global motto “Zero Rabies by 2030”.
