Landscape-scale analysis of raccoon rabies surveillance reveals different drivers of disease dynamics across latitude.

ABSTRACT: When raccoon rabies first invaded the mid-Atlantic United States, epizootics were larger, longer, and more pronounced than those in its historic, more southern, range, suggesting a North-South gradient in disease dynamics. In addition, due to higher raccoon densities and concentrated feeding sources, urban areas might sustain larger epizootics, suggesting an urban-rural gradient might likewise influence dynamics. Here we leverage long-term surveillance data on raccoon rabies, collated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States Department of Agriculture, and state and local public health agencies to better understand the role of latitude and urbanness for raccoon rabies epizootiology. Our analysis utilizes surveillance data from the 20 states composing the raccoon rabi

SUBMITTER: Michalska-Smith M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12500145 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature