Characterization and observation of animals responsible for rabies post-exposure treatment in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

In order to provide relevant therapeutic answers to human patients exposed to risk of rabies infection who visit the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge for post-exposure treatment and to improve control of rabies in Cambodia, a pil ot study was carried out in Phnom Penh Province in November and December 19 97 with three objectives: characterization of the population of animals res ponsible for the exposure to rabies, observation of the animals concerned, and confirmation of the presence of rabies virus in the province. Between 1 8 November 1997 and 19 December 1997, 409 of the 741 patients treated at th e Institut Pasteur du Cambodge because of an exposure to a known rabies Vec tor were included in the study. The animals concerned were: 401 dogs (98%), six monkeys (1,5%) and two cats (0,5%). Three-hundred-and-seventy of the a nimals (90,5%) were owned, 4 (1%) were unowned but were available for chara cterization and observation, and 35 (8,6%) had an unknown ownership status and were not available for further study. The exposures occurred on private property in 84% of the cases, and 80 of the 370 owned animals (22%) lived in the same home as had the patient. The 374 animals with known ownership s tatus were examined. Five were already dead and two of these five dogs had presented clinical signs typical of those of rabies. The male:female sex ra tio of the dogs was 2,1:1. The 369 live animals were placed under observati on for 10 d immediately after exposure of the humans had taken place. At th e end of the period none of the animals had developed clinical signs of rab ies, three had died of diseases other than rabies, and one was lost. Tests for the rabies nucleocapsid antigen were positive in two cases (the two sus pected rabid dogs), confirming the presence of rabies in Phnom Penh Provinc e. Consequently, we recommend measures to improve the control of rabies in Cambodia.