Origins of the arctic fox variant rabies viruses responsible for recent cases of the disease in southern Ontario.

ABSTRACT: A subpopulation of the arctic fox lineage of rabies virus has circulated extensively in red fox populations of Ontario, Canada, between the 1960s and 1990s. An intensive wildlife rabies control program, in which field operations were initiated in 1989, resulted in elimination of the disease in eastern Ontario. However in southwestern Ontario, as numbers of rabid foxes declined the proportion of skunks confirmed to be infected with this rabies virus variant increased and concerted control efforts targeting this species were employed to eliminate the disease. Since 2012 no cases due to this viral variant were reported in southwestern Ontario until 2015 when a single case of rabies due to the arctic fox variant was reported in a bovine. Several additional cases have been documented subsequent

SUBMITTER: Nadin-Davis SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6750613 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature