Oral rabies vaccination (ORV) of wildlife in Israel

In Israel, as in other parts of the world where rabies in dogs is largely under control, the disease has shifted from domestic animals to wildlife. Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) populations have become the main reservoir of the virus. During the last 20 years, traditional control methods of population reduction have been substituted by vaccination, made possible due to the development of an oral vaccine that can be delivered in bait. In addition to foxes, the large population of golden jackals (Canis aureus) in Israel may harbor rabies. According to criteria by the World Health Organization, we checked the efficacy and safety of two vaccines (recombinant and attenuated) in captive and wild jackals. Even though captive jackals ate the bait, the rate of seroconversion was relatively low (<50% and <80% for the recombinant and attenuated vaccine, respectively). Nevertheless, about 80% of the animals in both vaccine groups achieved immunity and survived a challenge with pathogenic rabies. In the field experiment, a biomarker (tetracycline) added to the baits enabled us to check the amount of bait acceptance within the populations. We found that a distribution of about 20 baits per 1 km² is sufficient to reach 60% of the target animals (foxes and jackals) in the area. ORV can, therefore, be used against the rabies in our region.