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Human butchering and consumption of animals potentially infected with rabies and other zoonotic viruses is not limited to Asia. In Nigeria, dog eating is very common in states such as Plateau, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Kaduna, Kebbi and Ondo. In fact, dog suya (barbequed dog meat) is sold publicly in the dog eating areas. In some areas such as Jos, only local and seasoned connoisseurs may easily distinguish restaurants where dog and other conventional meats are sold. Cat eating, though not as common as dog eating, can also be encountered, even in cosmopolitan places such as Lagos. While human consumption of bats is also common, there seems to have been little or no local effort (as per the limited information available) to evaluate the risk of rabies transmission.
Rabies is no doubt underreported and probably misdiagnosed in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa (Asselbergs 2007 and the references therein).
Cultural and religious beliefs will also contribute to the underreporting of human rabies that may arise from the consumption of infected apparently healthy dogs and cats. The [rabies-related lyssaviruses] Lagos bat and Mokola viruses still remain under-diagnosed in the human populace.
The paper by Ajayi, Rabo and Baba (2006) also indicates a disturbing possibility of transmission of rabies by apparently healthy (free of overt rabies signs) stray dogs. If their observations are confirmed, this, in their words, "signifies a new dimension in the epidemiology of the disease in this environment where the high-risk practices are prevalent." What's more intriguing epidemiologically and culturally is that their research was carried out in Maiduguri; the overwhelming Muslim population in the city provide zero economic incentives for dog meat restaurants. However, the dogs were slaughtered in restaurants associated with 2 military barracks in the city.
In summary, the situation reported in Viet Nam, Nigeria, etc. only reaffirms that rabies is more of a neglected tropical disease than thought and which deserves attention.
References:
- Ajayi BB, Rabo JS, Baba SS. Rabies in apparently healthy dogs:
histological and immunohistochemical studies. The Nigerian Postgraduate Medical Journal. 2006 Jun;13(2):128-34.
- Asselbergs M. Rabies awareness. The Veterinary Record 2007 Sep 22;161(12):4322.
Source:
Personal communication from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources Department of Livestock, Kaduna Nigeria [edited], 29.03.2009
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