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Abstract
Over the seven years from January 2004 to March 2011, 105 rabies cases in three different animal species and one case in human were recorded in South Korea. Forty three (40.6%) cattle and 33 (31.1%) dogs, 29 (27.4%) raccoon dogs were affected and one (0.9%) death in human was reported. The highest annual incidence of rabies was recorded with 27 cases in 2004, and then decreased to a median of 14 cases per year. Eighty cases (76.2%) occurred in Gangwon and 24 cases (22.9%) in Gyeonggi and one case in Seoul Province. All rabies cases occurred in the northern part of the country, namely, Seoul, Gyeonggi and Gangwon Provinces. Since 2007, rabies cases were not reported in Gyeonggi Province, but continued to occur and move eastward in Gangwon Province. The monthly distribution of animal rabies during the seven year period peaked in January, and the incidence was the highest during winter, from December to February, and the least common in summer, from June to September. The epidemiological study indicated that preventive measures including distribution of bait vaccine for the control of rabies in wild animals was helpful to a substantial decrease in number of rabies cases in South Korea.
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Figure 1.
Distribution of rabies cases in South Korea from January 2004 to March 2011. A dot indicates the site of the incidence of rabies. It is notable that the disease outbreaks continued to move to the eastern part of Gangwon Province between 2007 and 2011.
Figure 2.
Change of rabies incidences in Gyeonggi and Gangwon Province. The rabies incidence was significantly decreased in Gyeonggi Province (A). In Gangwon Province, the rabies cases were decreased and the outbreak regions were moved into the eastern part (B).
Figure 3.
Total monthly distribution of animal rabies cases in South Korea from January 2004 to March 2011.
Table 1.
Reported rabies cases in human and animals in South Korea from January 2004 to March 2011
Table 2.
Number of animal rabies recorded in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Gangwon Provinces from January 2004 to March 2011
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