Rabies and its issues in the Dnipropetrovsk Region (Ukraine, 2023)

The aim of the work was to study the epizootic situation regarding rabies in the Dnipropetrovsk region (Ukraine) under the conditions of full-scale war with Russia and to implement modern tools for geospatial analysis of cases of this disease. The results of virological studies were obtained from veterinary reports for 2010-2023. Rabitest-Fat of LLC "Biotestlab", Ukraine, was used for rabies diagnosis in the fluorescent antibody test. Python was used as a programming tool for data analysis. Google Maps tools were used for initial data processing. A heat map was used to visualize the geographical distribution of rabies cases. The study examined the dynamics of rabies cases in animals in the Dnipropetrovsk region from 2010 to 2023. The incidence of rabies in different groups of animals was compared. The mammals forming natural and anthropogenic foci were identified. The territorial detection of rabies cases and their annual distribution were analyzed. Epizootic and heat maps were created. The epizootic situation with rabies in animals in the Dnipropetrovsk region remained constantly tense with a tendency to aggravation due to the state of war. It was determined that the source and reservoir of infection in the Dnipropetrovsk region in 2023 are wild and domestic mammals, which form both natural and anthropogenic foci. The possibility of using Google Maps tools to map the rabies epizootic situation and identify the main foci of the disease spread was demonstrated. A Python code was proposed to create a heat map visualizing the hotspots of rabies distribution. The feasibility of further studies on rabies epizootic using modern tools for geospatial analysis was demonstrated