dentification of geographic risk factors associated withclinical human rabies in a transit city of Nigeria
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Date
2009
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by Vet Academic Resource Foundation, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan
Abstract
Hospital data from June 2002 to December 2008 were used to identify spatial locations of dog bite incidence in humans that were presented at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) for clinical care. Geographic coordinates of the identified locations were captured and used to create spatial models of dog bite incidence and rabies spread in Ilorin, the capital city of Kwara State, Nigeria. A total of152 cases of dog bite injury were retrieved. Seventeen (11.2%) patients were confirmed as clinical cases of rabies with fatal outcome. There were 11(64.7%), 4 (36.4%) and 2 (11.8%) fatal cases in children (age 0-15 years old),youths (16-30 years old) and adults(31-80 years old) respectively. Spatial cluster (p<0.001) of rabies virus infected dog bite cases was identified at central abattoir and its adjoining open beef market. The cluster occupied 3.3km radius with communal waste foods, abattoir wastes and water in non-residential areas of the city. Our findings associated free-roaming unimmunized dogs with virus infected bite injuries and rabies cases especially in children that commute along various routes by a central abattoir. This paper describes the importance and need for more communal hygiene and responsible dog ownership in rabies control in a transit city between the northern and southern parts of Nigeria.
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Olugasa et al., 2009