Abstract:
Dogs (Canis familiaris) are often free-roaming in sub-Saharan African countries. Rabies virus
circulates in many of these populations and presents a public health issue. Mass vaccination of
dog populations is the recommended method to decrease the number of dog and human
rabies cases. We describe and compare four populations of dogs and their vaccination coverage
in four different villages (Hluvukani, Athol, Utah and Dixie) in Bushbuckridge Municipality,
Mpumalanga province, South Africa. Cross-sectional surveys were conducted in the villages
of Athol, Utah and Dixie, while data from a Health and Demographic Surveillance System
were used to describe the dog population in Hluvukani village. All households of the villages
were visited to obtain information on the number, sex, age and rabies vaccination status of
dogs. From May to October 2013, 2969 households were visited in the four villages and 942
owned dogs were reported. The populations were all young and skewed towards males. No
differences were observed in the sex and age distributions (puppies 0–3 months excluded)
among the villages. Athol had a higher proportion of dog-owning households than Hluvukani
and Utah. Vaccination coverages were all above the 20% – 40% threshold required for herd
immunity to rabies (38% in Hluvukani, 51% in Athol, 65% in Dixie and 74% in Utah). For the
preparation of vaccination campaigns, we recommend the use of the relatively stable
dog:human ratio (between 1:12 and 1:16) to estimate the number of dogs per village in
Bushbuckridge Municipality.
