Overview of Animal Rabies in Kinshasa Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo

INTRODUCTION: Rabies is one of the major public health problems mostly affecting developing countries in Africa and Asia where 99.9% of all rabies related human deaths are recorded each year. In Democratic Republic of Congo, repeated outbreaks have been reported. Despite this, there is little reliable epidemiological data about rabies in the country for the development of effective control strategies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out in Kinshasa Province during a period of five years (2009–2013) to describe the proportion of rabid animals and the species involved in rabies transmission and maintenance. The survey also aimed at describing the spatial-temporal distribution of rabies. To gather information, the daily registers of institutions involved in rabies diagnosis were reviewed and each rabies case was traced back to area of occurrence for collection of geographic coordinates. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A total of 5,053 attacks were registered involving six animal species including dog, cat, monkey, rabbit, rat, and pig. Based on clinical observations, rabies was reported in dogs and cats while data obtained from the laboratory confirmed rabies cases included dogs, cats and a goat. The annual distribution showed a significant decrease of rabies cases from 2009 up to 2011 and a later increase up to 2013. There was no difference in rabies occurrence between seasons (p = 0.721). Rabies cases were three times higher in peri-urban zone than in urban zone OR = 3.4 (95% CI: 2.3–5.1). The positive proportion of rabies was 2.6% (95% CI: 2.1–3) based on clinical evidence and 65.9% (95% CI: 50–79.5) for laboratory confirmed cases. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION: This study confirms the endemicity of rabies in Kinshasa where occurrence of rabies cases was related to human population density and lifestyle. In order to control rabies, there is need to set up a surveillance program and implement efficient mass vaccination campaigns of susceptible animals.