Collins GK Atuheire¹*, Martha Taremwa¹, Kelvin Bwambale¹, James Okwee-Acai², Clovice Kankya¹, Odoch Terence¹, Sarah N Ssali³, Frank N Mwiine⁴ and Morten Tryland⁵

¹Department of Biosecurity, Ecosystems and Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
²Department of Veterinary Pharmacy, Clinical and Comparative Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity, Makerere University, Kampala Uganda
³School of Women and Gender Studies, College of Humanities, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
⁴Department of Biomolecular Resources and Biloab Sciences College of Vertinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
⁵Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

*Corresponding Author: Collins GK Atuheire, Department of Biosecurity, Ecosystems and Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

Received: February 27, 2023; Published: March 10, 2023

Abstract

Background: Rabies is responsible for annual 60,000 deaths globally and its nidality is largely in the Sub-saharan Africa. In Uganda, rabies is threatening due to large vegetation cover that facilitates as a hide out for stray dogs. Geo-climatic seasonal variation of rabies could be playing a big role in rabies endemicity in Uganda.

Aim: To determine the correlation between, dog bites, rabies mortality cases and climate change in Uganda

Methods: Review of data records from Climate Change Knowledge Portal by World Bank Group and Data records from Uganda Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries were retrieved for climate (last 30 years) and rabies data (last 5 years) respectively. Descriptive analysis using line and radar graphs in excel 2013 employed. T-test for pairwise correlation was carried out using Stata 16.0.

Results: Dog bites and Rabies mortality were bimodal in the rainfall Months of March, April, May (MAM) and months of September, October, November (SON). In Uganda Rabies deaths were more in 2017 and 2019. Dog bites were negatively correlated with temperature.

Conclusion: Rabies mortality cases and dog bites correlate positively with precipitation. The health authorities in Uganda should prioritize prevention strategies during rainy season.

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Citation

Citation: Collins GK Atuheire., et al. “Variation of Rabies Incidence with Rainfall Pattern in Uganda: Neglected Implication of Climate Change on Rabies Risk”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 7.4 (2023): 68-72.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Collins GK Atuheire., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.