3 – Molecular Epidemiology

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the progress made in the molecular epidemiology of rabies as practiced in a growing number of reference and public health laboratories worldwide. It discusses the fundamentals of the molecular epidemiology of rabies and how these assumptions have been used in—investigations of the human cases, as a means of enhanced surveillance of animal rabies, and to monitor the vaccine coverage. The methods of virus typing for rabies differ in the precision with which virus populations can be dissected. Some members of the Lyssavirus genus differ so significantly that serology and vaccine cross-protection tests alone are sufficient to differentiate between them. The distinctive reaction patterns between the viruses and the monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are used effectively to identify many of the terrestrial animal reservoirs for rabies. Genetic typing, especially the nucleotide sequence analysis, permits the most precise definition of the virus type and currently has the greatest utility in the epidemiologic investigations. The chapter concludes by discussing the typing of lyssavirus samples by both the antigenic and genetic methods.