Version 1
: Received: 25 March 2023 / Approved: 27 March 2023 / Online: 27 March 2023 (04:06:12 CEST)
How to cite:
Kalthoum, S.; Gharbi, R.; Ben Ali, M.; Ben Sliman, I.; Haboubi, N.; Barrak, K.; Fakhfekh, K.; Ben Romdhane, R.; El Hechri, H.; Boughanemi, S.; Seghaier, C.; Bahloul, C. A Case-Control Study of Risk Factors for Dog Rabies in Northeast Tunisia. Preprints2023, 2023030443. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202303.0443.v1
Kalthoum, S.; Gharbi, R.; Ben Ali, M.; Ben Sliman, I.; Haboubi, N.; Barrak, K.; Fakhfekh, K.; Ben Romdhane, R.; El Hechri, H.; Boughanemi, S.; Seghaier, C.; Bahloul, C. A Case-Control Study of Risk Factors for Dog Rabies in Northeast Tunisia. Preprints 2023, 2023030443. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202303.0443.v1
Kalthoum, S.; Gharbi, R.; Ben Ali, M.; Ben Sliman, I.; Haboubi, N.; Barrak, K.; Fakhfekh, K.; Ben Romdhane, R.; El Hechri, H.; Boughanemi, S.; Seghaier, C.; Bahloul, C. A Case-Control Study of Risk Factors for Dog Rabies in Northeast Tunisia. Preprints2023, 2023030443. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202303.0443.v1
APA Style
Kalthoum, S., Gharbi, R., Ben Ali, M., Ben Sliman, I., Haboubi, N., Barrak, K., Fakhfekh, K., Ben Romdhane, R., El Hechri, H., Boughanemi, S., Seghaier, C., & Bahloul, C. (2023). A Case-Control Study of Risk Factors for Dog Rabies in Northeast Tunisia. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202303.0443.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Kalthoum, S., Chedia Seghaier and Chokri Bahloul. 2023 "A Case-Control Study of Risk Factors for Dog Rabies in Northeast Tunisia" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202303.0443.v1
Abstract
Since 2012, the northeast of Tunisia has been experiencing an emergence of dog rabies. Published data revealed that the disease is widespread in the north of Tunisia. Even with studies on rabies, lacking knowledge on the associated risk factors was highlighted. Therefore, we conducted a case-control study on dog rabies in northeast Tunisia to identify potential risk factors for dog rabies occurrence. The cases group (n=77) included positive dog rabies confirmed at the referral laboratory using Fluorescent Antibody Test (FAT) in 2014 and 2018. The controls group (n=77) involved all negative cases received at the laboratory and 15-days quarantine dogs that received a certificate of absence of rabies after the observation period. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was conducted to explore the risk factors (age, sex, breed, confinement, vaccination status, presence of bites, owned or not and origin of dogs, sector, presence of rabies cases, and slaughterhouses, etc.…) related to the occurrence of rabies. The final logistic regression model revealed that unconfined dogs were almost twice as likely to be affected as confined dogs (OR=1.9; 95% CI: 1.17 to 3.27). The odds of rabies occurrence were 25 times higher in areas where rabies cases have been reported between 3 months and 1 year compared to the uninfected areas (25.7; 95% CI: 3.02-219.14). Similarly, the risk of rabies is significantly higher in dogs born in the home to the owner bitch (OR=2.41; 95% CI: 1.14-5.13). Living in areas with rabies cases in the last three months increases by 2.8 times the risk of getting rabies (2.8; 95% CI: 1.16-6.77). However, vaccination reduces by 1.6 times the risk of contracting rabies (0.6; 95% CI: 0.38-0.97). Our findings provide reliable data on dog rabies that will be very useful for decision-makers and could contribute to improving the ongoing national control program of rabies.
Keywords
Rabies; dogs; Tunisia; risk factors; odds ratio; case-control study
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Medicine and Pharmacology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.