The epidemiology of rabies in Zimbabwe. 2. Rabies in jackals (Canis adustus and Canis mesomelas)

The epidemiology of rabies in Canis adustus (the side-striped jackal) and C anis mesomelas (the black-backed jackal) in Zimbabwe is described using dat a collected from 1950-1996. Cases in the two species made up 25,2% of all c onfirmed cases, second only to domestic dogs. Since the species of jackal c ases was not recorded on rabies submission forms, the country was divided i nto areas according to species dominance and jackal cases were assigned to either C. adustus or C. mesomelas dominant zones or a sympatric zone where the relative status of the species is not known. Jackal rabies in both spec ies is maintained in the commercial farming sector. Jackal rabies in the C. adustus zone occurs as dense epidemics, which begin at a single focus and spread centrifugally. The foci were initiated by rabid dogs, but once initi ated the epidemic is maintained by C. adustus independently of other specie s. The extent of outbreaks in the C. adustus zone was limited by geographic al (landuse type and jackal species interface) boundaries. Jackal rabies in C. adustus zones showed two seasonal peaks with the main peak occurring du ring late summer and the second peak during winter. In the C. mesomelas zon e jackal rabies was more sparse but it occurred during most years. C. mesom elas is also able to maintain rabies independently of other species, althou gh the epidemiology of the disease in this species is unclear. Transmission of rabies cycles between the two jackal species zones does not appear to o ccur as epidemics terminate when crossing the C. adustus and C. mesomelas i nterface boundaries.