SCIENTIFIC RISK ASSESSMENT OF RABIES

Rabies is a particularly dangerous, natural, infectious disease of animals and humans, characterized by encephalomyelitis with severe disorders of the nervous system. Rabies is a zoonotic virus in mammals that are present on all continents except Antarctica. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), rabies causes about 70,000 deaths each year. In Europe, dogs (canis) are the main reservoir and vector of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), the main cause of most rabies cases in countries such as Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian Federation, as well as in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Recent statistics provide evidence that both foxes and dogs in Turkey can play a role in rabies reservoir. In Azerbaijan, rabies is a disease that must be reported and is endemic throughout the country. The characteristic (density, growth dynamics) of dogs population, which is the main source of rabies disease, is unknown. There is a large population of stray dogs in Azerbaijan.