ObjectiveThis study aims to analyze the evolution of the epidemiologicalbehavior of rabies in Chile during the period 2003 to 2013, throughthe epidemiological characterization of a number of variables anddescription of spatial and temporal patterns of animal cases.IntroductionRabies is a zoonotic disease caused by an RNA virus from thefamily Rhabdoviridae, genus Lyssavirus. Worldwide distributed,control of rabies has been considered to be particularly amenable toa “One Health” strategy (1). In Chile, rabies was considered endemicin domestic dog population until the late 1960s, when a surveillanceprogram was established, decreasing the number of human casesrelated to canine variants until the year 1972 (2). Rabies is recognizedas a endemic infection in chiropterans of Chile and prompted thesurveillance of the agent in this and other species (3).MethodsAn epidemiological characterization of the registered cases fromthe National Program for Prevention and Control of Rabies wascarried. During the period 2003-2013, 927 cases were reported.Descriptive statistics and descriptive mapping, recording origin of thesample, number of cases per region, animal reservoir implicated andviral variant were performed. A spatial autocorrelation analysis wascarried using Moran’s I indicator for the detection of spatial clusters(4), using the Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) statistics(5), at national and regional level of aggrupation (north, central andsouth zone). Temporal descriptive analysis was carried.Results927 positive cases were recorded. 920 (99.2%) cases came frompassive surveillance, while 7 (0.8%) cases by active surveillance, totalpositivity was 77.02% and 1.37% respectively. Positivity was reportedmainly in the central zone (88.1%), mainly in Valparaiso (19.1%),Metropolitana (40.6%) (Figure 1), Maule (11.8%) regions concentratedin urban centers. Main positive reservoirs were bats (99.8%),specificallyTadarida brasiliensisand viral variant 4 was the mostcommonly diagnosed. LISA test gives a Moran’s I indicator of 0.1537(p-value = 0.02) for the central zone (Table 1). Rabies tend to decreasein fall and winter season (2.9 cases vs 13 cases during summer).ConclusionsWildlife rabies in bats remains endemic in Chile, concentrated inurban areas. The main reservoirs are insectivorous bats. There is asignificant spatial autocorrelation of animal rabies cases in the centralzone of Chile. Results are relevant to the design of preventive andcontrol measures.
Clustering Analysis Influenza Disease to Identify Spatio-Temporal Spread Pattern in Thailand
