Serological results of a dog vaccination campaign against rabies in Peru

Summary: Urban rabies is a significant problem in many Latin American coun­ tries. The authors describe the rabies situation from 1980 through September 1986 in Peru, especially in Lima and Callao, and present the organisational ap­ proach and the results of the mass campaign in which around 270,000 dogs (65% of the estimated dog population) were vaccinated within one month. Reported rabies cases declined sharply. No new human case was observed. A serological survey was conducted to determine the immune response, under field conditions, of a randomly selected sample of Peruvian dogs 2 to 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after immunisation with a cell cultured, inactivated and adjuvanted rabies vaccine. Only 3 % of the 198 dogs from the 12-month sample had less than 0.5 IU/ml rabies neutralising antibody (the protective threshold defined by WHO); 87% had 1.0 IU/ml or more. These data demonstrate the excellent results obtained under field conditions with such a vaccine.