Situation of Rabies in the Republic of Chad

Known since the highest antiquity, rabies is a viral, mortal disease. Rabies affects all mammals, including humans, and is a threat to both public and animal health. Rabies is therefore a zoonosis. Rabies is caused by a virus belonging to the family Rhabdoviridae and gender lyssavirus . Rabies virus is an enveloped virus presenting in an electron microscopy as a shell. It is a viral disease that is characterized by encephalitis. It is poorly controlled and even increasing in many countries in Africa and Asia. In Chad, rabies is enzootic, and its diagnosis is only possible at the Veterinary and Zootechnical Research Laboratory of Farcha (LRVZ), the current Livestock Research Institute for Development (IRED). In intertropical Africa, rabies is urban; it is carried by dogs that represent the reservoir of the wild virus and the vector of the disease in humans because of the close ties they keep with humans. Other domestic animals do not intervene much. This manuscript describes the evolution of the epidemiological situation of rabies in the Republic of Chad and the results of the studies carried out in this field from 1990 to date. The results of the mass and free vaccination campaigns undertaken in 2003, 2012 and 2013 gave a vaccination coverage rate of 78, 70.83 and 71% respectively; On the other hand, the mass and paid vaccination campaign gave a vaccination coverage rate of 23%. Thanks to the results of the two mass vaccination campaigns for dogs and other companion animals, the incidence of rabies in N'Djamena drops from four (4) new cases per month in 2012 to less than two cases per month in 2014. Although efforts were made to control the diease, the existing data on canine rabies in Chad are fragmentary and do not allow accurate description of the disease situation throughout the country. To effectively control rabies in Chad, mass vaccination campaign for dogs and other companion animals must be free of charge throughout the all national territory, since the fight against rabies is a public good, an ethical imperative that can contribute to the fight against poverty. Emphasis should therefore be put on raising public awareness by using all possible means, such as radio, television, newspapers and awareness-raising meetings.