Prevalence of Rabies among Hospital-Admitted Rabies Suspected Dogs in and around Chennai at Tamilnadu

The present study aimed to identify the prevalence of rabies cases in and around Chennai from January 2023 to December 2023.Data were collected from rabies suspected dog cases which were admitted in under observation for rabies (UOR) of the rabies ward, Teaching Hospital, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai, Tamilnadu.The data for one year of rabies suspected cases were confirmed in post-mortem based on FAT and modified William's stain method.The prevalence of rabies for one year was 77.8%.The prevalence of males was 74.6% and females were 67.6%.Breed-wise prevalence of non-descript and others (German shepherd, Doberman, Spitz, Combai, Chippiparai was 79 and 100 percent, respectively.Positive prevalence of susceptible age group was 45, 61.5, 50, 40 and 66.7% of 0-3 months 3-6 months, 6-9 months, 9-12 months and above one year, respectively.The positive prevalence of unvaccinated dogs and booster-given dogs were 77.1 and 52.4% respectively.Month wise positive prevalence of rabies was highest in May (92.8%) and lowest in December (20%).Many owners brought the stray dogs for their clinical signs without any awareness of rabies.This study highlights the need to promote knowledge regarding rabies awareness and further surveillance.Owned non-descript dogs attributed to the higher prevalence.Hence, educating owners about rabies vaccination is needed because dogs act as a reservoir host for human rabies.