Predictors of free-roaming domestic dogs' contact network centrality and their relevance for rabies control.

ABSTRACT: Free roaming domestic dogs (FRDD) are the main vectors for rabies transmission to humans worldwide. To eradicate rabies from a dog population, current recommendations focus on random vaccination with at least 70% coverage. Studies suggest that targeting high-risk subpopulations could reduce the required vaccination coverage, and increase the likelihood of success of elimination campaigns. The centrality of a dog in a contact network can be used as a measure of its potential contribution to disease transmission. Our objectives were to investigate social networks of FRDD in eleven study sites in Chad, Guatemala, Indonesia and Uganda, and to identify characteristics of dogs, and their owners, associated with their centrality in the networks. In all study sites, networks had small-world proper

SUBMITTER: Warembourg C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8213792 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature