Incidence and menace of rabies viral infection in south eastern, nigeria

The aim of the study was to ascertain the incidence of rabies viral infection vis-a-viz stem the rate of the spread in our vicinity. Study on the incidence on rabies virus among the vaccinated and non vaccinated dogs in South Eastern, Nigeria was carried out. A total number of 193 dogs were investigated using the Sellers stain technique by examining the brain smears made from hippocampus and cerebellum parts of their brains especially those that died from rabies using a light microscope. Result showed that the vaccinated dogs did not stand the chance of transmitting rabies virus to other dogs, animals and humans from our findings. The disease should be of much concern to the people as it was widespread among animals reservoirs especially dogs being mans close pet, so it was imperative to vaccinate dogs especially by the owners, hence, the low rate of rabies viral infection recorded in our vicinity was as a result of awareness created by health agency and our ancient belief of regarding rearing of dogs as a taboo.