The History of Rabies in Venezuela

As elsewhere throughout the Americas, Venezuela has been affected by rabies for centuries. Originally, while sylvatic rabies may have been present sporadically, the indigenous people, who inhabited this territory for thousands of years from the mountains to the coastal regions, left no pre-colonial evidence suggestive of this disease. At the end of the fifteenth century, the area was exemplified by a large biological and cultural diversity, which was altered upon arrival of European and African populations during the colonial period, adding their own culture, customs, flora, and fauna. Such variables impacted each of the four major regions of Venezuela: the Andes, the Caribbean, the Plains, and the Amazon. Thereafter, rabies virus established two notable epidemiological cycles, urban rabies and sylvatic rabies, via introduced European domestic dogs and livestock, the latter of which indigenous hematophagous bats exploited as a primary resource. This arrival of European and African populations into the Venezuelan territory introduced multiple diseases to the original native population. Canine rabies was one of those diseases. In 1804, the first human rabies case was recorded, without noting whether it was canine or sylvatic in origin. Before the fifteenth century, rabies was endemic in Spain, England, and other European countries, with many reports of human and animal deaths. At the same time, historical records are lacking on the presence of dogs or rabies in Venezuela, Therefore, it is likely that Europeans introduced rabid dogs to the country, as elsewhere throughout the New World. Centuries later, canine rabies spread to multiple states of the national territory. Currently, after decades of active control activities, canine rabies is still present. Sylvatic rabies was reported in 1938, as a bovine case in Miranda State. Today, wildlife rabies is present in multiple states throughout the country. Since the nineteenth century, rabies virus circulation is recognized as endemic in Venezuela, with several large outbreaks reported over time. With support for enhanced laboratory-based surveillance, education, prevention, and control activities, realization of the global goal for the elimination of human rabies caused by dogs may be feasible by 2030. In the interim, sylvatic rabies will remain a challenge.