Rabies mass vaccination campaigns in Tunisia: Are vaccinated dogs correctly immunized?

Among the 301 dogs vaccinated against rabies in a suburban area of Tunis, 1 65 were sere-surveyed for 13 months. One month after vaccination, 65% of th e dogs less than 1 year of age and 76-84% of the older dogs had significant antibody titers. One month after annual revaccination; these percentages r anged between 92% and 100%, Puppies (less than 3 months old) responded to v accination with no significant interference by passive maternal immunity. B ased on these percentages, a 93% rate of protection mat, be expected for va ccinated dogs. This study confirms that all dogs (even those less than 3 mo nths of age) must be vaccinated during mass campaigns. The expected protect ion conferred by locally produced potent vaccines reaches 79-99% based on t he age of the dogs. The alleged relative inability of local dogs to respond to vaccination cannot explain the partial success of rabies control in Tun isia.