THE IMPORTANCE OF DOGS (CANIS FAMILIARIS L., 1758) IN THE EPIZOOTIC AND EPIDEMIC PROCESS OF RABIES IN THE TERRITORY OF RUSSIA IN THE XX–XXI CENTURIES

The purpose of the study is to show the importance of dogs in the epizootic and epidemic process of rabies on the territory of the Russian Federation since the mid-twentieth century until now. The number of reported cases of canine rabies declined since 1960 and was relatively stable until 1996, after which the disease increased exponentially. In the structure of the incidence of rabies in domestic carnivores, the share of dogs decreased by 24.3 % (from 84.2% in 1960–1994 to 59.9 % in 2007–2010). Overall, in 2018–2021 there was a predominance of the share of domestic animals. Among sick dogs in 2020–2021 up to 10 % were stray dogs. In 2012–2018 dogs were the source of human rabies infection in 39.3 % of cases in 2019–2021 – in 47.1 %, the maximum share of dogs was in 2020 – in 62.5 % of cases. Among people who died from rabies when infected from dogs, there were more men than women (60.5 ± 3.9 versus 39.5 ± 3.9 %). The dead men made up the majority among both rural and urban residents (57.2 ± 4.0 and 65.2 ± 3.8 %, respectively). Men were more often infected from stray dogs than from domestic dogs. The proportion of affected rural residents exceeded the proportion of urban residents by 3.3 times (76.8 ± 3.4 versus 23.2 ± 3.4 %). At the same time, in the age category of 81–90 years, the share of urban residents was 3 times higher than the share of rural residents (2.4 ± 1.2 versus 0.8 ± 0.7 %). In the age categories from 16 to 70 years, on the contrary, the share of rural residents exceeded the share of urban residents by 5.5 times (52.4 ± 4.2 versus 9.6 ± 2.4 %). Among urban residents, almost twice as many men were affectted as women.