Spread of animal rabies in Poltava, Kirovohrad and Sumy regions

Abstract

Ukraine remains one of the few countries in Europe where cases of rabies among animals and isolated clinical cases among humans are registered, despite preventive measures. At the same time, the reasons for the rapid spread of the Lyssavirus rabies virus in animals in the Poltava, Kirovohrad and Sumy regions remain unclear. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to conduct epizootological monitoring of the incidence of rabies in animals during 2020–2024 in the Sumy, Poltava, and Kirovohrad regions. Research materials were: plans for conducting diagnostic studies on the prevention of infectious animal diseases, reporting documentation on the epizootic situation of animal rabies of the main departments of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection in three regions. During 2020–2024, 441 cases of animal rabies were registered in Poltava, Kirovohrad, and Sumy regions, and 338 unsafe points were declared. Most cases of rabies are registered among dogs, which is 28.9 % – mainly strays, which, in turn, are infected by wild animals, followed by cats (27.3 %) and red foxes (25.9 %). Among the total number of animals infected with rabies in the studied regions, ruminants accounted for 16.4 %. During the specified observation period, the incidence of other animal species did not exceed 1.5 %. In the period 2020–2023 the largest number of animal rabies patients was registered in the Kirovohrad region. At the same time, 43 cases were recorded in Poltava region as of October 2024, which is 11.6 % more than in Kirovohrad and 81.4 % more than in Sumy regions. Kirovohrad region is also a leader in animal bites to people – 1,632 cases. In order to prevent rabies in the territory of the above-mentioned regions, from the beginning of 2024, regional state veterinary medicine specialists vaccinated against rabies the heads of: dogs – 285,371, cats – 258,287, and other farm animals – 18,431.