RABIES - FRANCE (02): (VENDEE), CANINE ex MOROCCO
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Date: Thu 18 Aug 2011
Source: Eurosurveillance, Volume 16, Issue 33 [summarised & edited]
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http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArt ... leId=19946>
Rabid dog illegally imported to France from Morocco, August 2011
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[Rapid Communication from: Mailles A, Boisseleau D, Dacheux L,
Michalewiscz C, Gloaguen C, Ponsson N, Bourhy H, Callon H, Vaillant V,
Dabosville I, Morineau-Le Houssine P.]
A suspected case of canine rabies was notified to the official
veterinary services (Direction Departementale de la Protection des
Populations, DDPP) of the district of Vendee, France on 6 Aug 2011.
The dog was a 3-month-old Jack-Russell-type puppy that presented with
behavioural changes consisting of progressive sleepiness on 1 Aug 2011
and later, with aggressiveness. The dog was admitted to a veterinary
clinic on 6 Aug 2011 and died the following day. Rabies was suspected
on admission, and the dog's body was sent shortly after death to the
National Reference Centre for Rabies (Institut Pasteur, Paris, France)
for biological diagnosis, where rabies was confirmed one day after
receipt, on 11 Aug 2011, by direct immunofluorescence and by virus
isolation in tissue culture. The detection of viral RNA by
RT-hemi-nested PCR and by real-time PCR was also positive. The viral
strain was identified as a lyssavirus belonging to the species _
Rabies virus_ (formerly genotype 1), Africa 1 lineage and genetically
closely related to strains isolated in Morocco [1].
Taking into account the date of onset of signs and the date of death,
the maximum viral excretion period, and thus the potential risk of
infection transmission, was considered ranging from 18 Jul to 7 Aug
2011. The owners of the dog were a French family who spent holidays in
Morocco. They found and adopted the stray dog near Rabat on 11 Jul
2011. The dog stayed with the family in Morocco until they left on 31
Jul 2011. They travelled back to France with the dog by car and
ferryboat. The dog was not vaccinated against rabies (and was too
young to be vaccinated and imported according to European regulations
[2]) and was not micro chipped. Conditions required for importation of
dogs and entry into the European Union (EU) were not respected [2].
The family drove through Spain during the night without stopping
except for fuel and crossed the Spanish-French border on 1 Aug 2011.
In France, the dog did not wander unsupervised but was presented by a
child of the family to several persons among her social contacts. The
family members were interviewed by the regional health authorities
(ARS) and the DDPP in order to list all known persons and animals that
had had direct contact with the dog in France, Spain and Morocco. All
persons identified in France were contacted by the physician in charge
from the anti-rabies clinic at the university hospital in Nantes to
evaluate their individual risk of contamination with regards to the
nature and date of contacts, according to World Health Organization
(WHO) recommendations [3].
In France, 3 of 8 family members who had contact with the dog were
considered as category III exposure according to the WHO criteria. All
3 had been bitten, had transdermal wounds and received post-exposure
treatment (PET) consisting of vaccination and rabies immunoglobulin
[3]. A total of 19 people among social contacts of the family reported
direct contact with the dog. One reported having been bitten and
received vaccination and rabies immunoglobulin. A 2nd person had been
licked on non-intact skin (skin lesions) and received vaccination
only. 17 persons had only category I exposures and did not receive PET
[3]. The veterinarian who took care of the dog had previously been
vaccinated and, therefore, only received a booster vaccination. The
veterinary nurse who had category I exposures did not receive PET.
No persons had direct contact with the dog in Spain, whereas some
relatives and friends in Morocco were identified with at-risk
exposures. Health authorities in Morocco were informed, and the
contact details of the persons affected provided to make sure they
would be taken care of. In total, 29 people had direct contacts, and 6
received PET
Another dog, one cat and 2 kittens had direct contact with the dog at
the place of residence of the family in France. The dog was identified
by microchip and had previously been vaccinated against rabies.
Following the exposure to the rabid puppy, it received a booster
vaccination according to French regulations. The cat and both kittens
had not been vaccinated nor micro chipped before the contact with the
dog and were, therefore, killed humanely according to the regulations
in place.
Discussion and conclusion
No autochthonous human rabies case has occurred in mainland France
since 1923. In 2001, France was declared rabies-free for non-flying
terrestrial mammals (based on World Organisation for Animal Health
(OIE) criteria), following the elimination of fox rabies in 1998.
In 2008, the importation of a rabid dog from Morocco resulted in a
chain of transmission of canine rabies in France and the loss of the
rabies-free status [4]. However, France regained its rabies-free
status according to OIE criteria in February 2010 [5].
Since 2001, 9 rabid dogs have been illegally introduced in France. All
but one had been imported from Morocco through Spain. Before the
episode described in this report, the most recent case was an adult
dog imported from Gambia to Belgium, and later to France from Belgium.
The number of people who received PET after exposure to one of these 9
dogs ranged from 2 to 187 per episode.
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[Interested readers should access the original text at the source URL
to obtain the list of references cited.
This report confirms the previous suspicion that the rabid puppy had
been illegally imported into France, through Spain, from Morocco. It
seems likely that this illegal importation was due to ignorance of the
regulations rather than deliberate intent to evade detection. It is
surprising, however, that the importation of the puppy appears not to
have been challenged at any of the frontier-crossing points during the
animal's passage from Morocco to France.
In most member countries of the European Union (EU), the Pet Travel
Scheme (Pet Passports) allows animals to travel easily between member
countries without undergoing quarantine. However, this scheme does not
apply to movement of pets into Europe from North Africa. - Mod.CP]
