New isolations of the rabies-related
Mokola virus from South Africa.
BMC Vet Res 2017;
13:37. [PMID:
28143485 PMCID:
PMC5282659 DOI:
10.1186/s12917-017-0948-0]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2016] [Accepted: 01/12/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Mokola virus (MOKV) is a rabies-related lyssavirus and appears to be exclusive to the African continent. Only 24 cases of MOKV, which includes two human cases, have been reported since its identification in 1968. MOKV has an unknown reservoir host and current commercial vaccines do not confer protection against MOKV.
RESULTS
We describe three new isolations of MOKV from domestic cats in South Africa. Two cases were retrospectively identified from 2012 and an additional one in 2014.
CONCLUSIONS
These cases emphasize the generally poor surveillance for rabies-related lyssaviruses and our inadequate comprehension of the epidemiology and ecology of Mokola lyssavirus per se.
Collapse