engleski

Rabies monitoring in Croatian wildlife

Rabies is fatal zoonotic disease with serious public health impact in number of countries throughout the world. As in many other European countries, the disease in Croatia is strictly in silvatic form, where red fox (Vulpes vulpes) has the main role as reservoir and propagator of virus among wildlife. Although perpetuating the disease mostly among themselves, foxes occasionally transmit disease to other wild and domestic animal species. Starting at spring 1977 when first rabies case was diagnosed on fox from Koprivnica-Križevci County until the end of year 1994, cases of rabies in foxes has been diagnosed with some differences in incidence from every County, covering so entire territory of Croatia. In the last 10 years the disease has become enzootic in many Counties in Croatia, and only islands has been spared until know. During the last thirty years of rabies monitoring in Croatian Veterinary Institute and its 5 regional subsidiaries a total number of 55 397 fox materials were submitted for rabies diagnostics. Out of that number 12 963, or 23.4% where positive for rabies. Among wildlife, rabies has been diagnosed in Croatia in addition to foxes in 16 other species. Most frequently ferret (77), badgers (54), roe deer (42) and wild hog (29) cases, and less frequently in wild cat (15), jackal (10), hare (10), wolf (10), weasel (9) and polecat (8), and only occasionally in otter (2), rat (2), bear, red deer, lynx, hedgehog (1) case. In the present work epidemiology and methodology of rabies diagnostics in Croatia are discussed.

rabies; croatian wildlife

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