Abstract:
Rabies is one of the most significant public and veterinary health problems, causing
approximately 59,000 human deaths annually in the developing countries of Asia and Africa. The
aetiologic agent, a viral species of the Lyssavirus genus, is highly neurotropic and has a wide host
range, including terrestrial mammals and several Chiropteran species. The Lyssavirus mokola (MOKV)
was first isolated in the late 1960s from organ pools of shrews (Crocidura flavescens manni) in the
Mokola forest (Nigeria). To date, at least 30 MOKV isolations have been confirmed, all exclusively
from Africa, with 73% from southern Africa. There is limited knowledge about the epidemiology of
MOKV, and the reservoir host species is unknown. Here, we report on the molecular characterization
of rabies viruses originating from both domestic and African wild cats. A partial region of the
lyssavirus genome, encoding the nucleoprotein, was amplified and sequenced. Nucleotide sequence
analysis demonstrated that 98% of cats were infected with both the canid and mongoose rabies
virus variants, as well as a rare lyssavirus, Lyssavirus mokola, from a domestic cat from Eswatini.
Furthermore, the nucleotide sequence divergence between the recently identified MOKV isolate
and the historical Lyssavirus mokola isolates ranged from 6.8% to 8.3%. This study further highlights
the association between the potential host species of Lyssavirus mokola and the domestic cat as an
incidental host, and the important role cats may play in rabies transmission dynamics in the country.
Therefore, continuous vaccination of domestic cats against rabies is crucial, even after the elimination
of dog-mediated rabies, as spillover related to sylvatic rabies cycles is likely to occur.
