CANID AND VIVERRID RABIES VIRUSES IN SOUTH-AFRICA

Historical records suggest that in South Africa rabies was present in viverrids in the early 1800s. In the early 1950s a wave of canine rabi es spread from Namibia through Botswana into the northern Transvaal an d by 1961 a second front had penetrated south from Mozambique into Swa ziland and northern Natal. Today, rabies is regularly confirmed in a n umber of canid and viverrid species in most regions of South Africa. A panel of anti-nucleoprotein monoclonal antibodies was used to examine 83 virus isolates from these species. Two major reaction patterns, on e chiefly confined to viruses from canids and the other to viruses fro m viverrids, were obtained. In addition, some variation in the reactio n patterns of viverrid viruses was observed and spill-over of viverrid virus into canids and vice versa was recorded. Rabies in South Africa appears to behave as two distinct disease entities.