2. I

Rabies is a viral disease of the central nervous system for which there is no known cure. Early symptoms in man include fever, headache and malaise, and abnormal sensations around the bitten area. The disease may then lead to spasms, hydrophobia, hallucinations and maniacal behaviour, progressing to gradual paralysis and coma. Death results from respiratory paralysis.

2.2

Humans can be given preventative immunisation. Where people have not been vaccinated before exposure to the virus, effective treatment with immune serum globulin and vaccine is possible. This should be provided within 48 hours.

2.3

Rabies is endemic in animals in many parts of the world. It is maintained in a particular host species. In western Europe the host is the red fox. The doe is the host in many parts of the developing world, and the canine strain is responsible for most of the human deaths worldwide. This strain is endemic in Turkey and was imported into the European Union on two occasions during l995

2.4

World-wide, tens of thousands of people die from rabies each year. The majority of cases occur in the Indian subcontinent. Between 1977 and 1994, l5O cases of human rabies in Europe (including European Russia) were reported by the World Health Organisation. However, there have been no deaths from rabies contracted within the EU for many years.

2.5

The number of outbreaks of rabies in Europe in foxes is less than it was a decade ago. This decrease has been brought about by repeated wildlife vaccination programmes, targeting foxes in particular. Nevertheless, rabies is still present in parts of Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland and has until recently been present in France, Luxembourg, and Italy (which are still not officially rabies free). Cases in wildlife are much more numerous in central and eastern Europe, including the countries currently negotiating entry into the European Union.

2.6

The last case of human rabies where infection was contracted in the United Kingdom was in 1902. Cases continue to occur from time to time in people who have been infected abroad (the most recent being in 1996), but these are rare.

2.7

The UK has been free of indigenous animal rabies since 1902 except for the period from 1918 to 1922. Rabies has occurred since then in imported animals in quarantine, most recently in an Irish Wolfhound imported from the United States in 1983. In 1969 and 1970 two imported dogs died of rabies outside quarantine after completing their six months' isolation. No case of animal rabies has occurred outside quarantine since 1970, although infection with the related European Bat Lyssavirus was confirmed in 1996 in a bat which is believed to have been blown across the English Channel from continental Europe.

2.8

The UK remains, therefore, free from rabies. That position has been maintained by operating very strict arrangements to guard against rabies being brought into the country by pets or wildlife, of which quarantine is the key safeguard.

2.9

A major concern for the UK is that if the rabies virus were ever introduced in this country, it could establish a reservoir of infection in foxes which would be extremely hard to combat. Other wildlife, particularly badgers and feral cats, is also highly susceptible to rabies. Urban foxes would pose a serious problem in Britain because of their numbers and concentration in heavily populated areas. Control would involve laying poison baits in towns, which the foxes might in any case not take up because of abundant food supplies. With our current freedom from rabies, it is not necessary in the UK (as it is in countries where rabies is endemic) to give post-exposure treatment after a bite from an animal, because of the improbability that such a bite would cause infection. This would obviously change if rabies became established here. Post exposure treatment per case costs around £500, and in France in 1994 at least £3.2m was spent on this.

Quarantine in the UK as we operate it now has five key features:

A licence has to be obtained from one of the four Agriculture Departments before the pet can be imported. This is issued free of charge.

The pet can be moved into the country only by an authorised carrier paid by the pet owner Carriers are authorised by the Agriculture Departments annually after an inspection of their vehicles and equipment.

All pet mammals brought in from outside the British Isles, regardless of country of origin, must spend six months' isolation in approved quarantine premises at the pet owner's expense.

All dogs and cats (but not animals of other species) must be vaccinated on arrival at the quarantine premises. This reduces the likelihood of infection being spread within the quarantine kennels should an animal develop clinical rabies whilst in quarantine. Vaccination does not prevent an animal from developing rabies and dying if it is already incubating the disease, nor does it significantly affect the incubation period.

Quarantine kennels must be built and operated to an approved standard. They are regularly inspected by Government veterinary officers and controlled by Government-authorised veterinary superintendents. There are strict security standards to guard against escapes, to prevent contact between quarantined animals and other animals and to prevent contact between animals in quarantine so as to reduce the possibility of cross-infection. Should an animal die in quarantine, its head and neck are sent for examination by the Government's Veterinary laboratories Agency to check for the presence of rabies.

2.11

Quarantine arrangements also apply in the Republic of Ireland. Jersey and Isle of Man will only accept animals originating in the British Isles, or which have been quarantined in UK, Guernsey or Irish premises.

2.12

This system is simple and well understood by the public. It does not depend for its effectiveness on accurate identification of individual animals, nor on paper certification, nor on animals having been made immune to rabies before coming here. Publicity has played an important role, both in relation to warning people not to bring in dogs and cats and encouraging others to notify the authorities of suspect animals. In 1996, 60 dogs and 20 cats were reported as illegally landed in Great Britain. There were 25 prosecutions for contraventions of the import regulations. The maximum fine imposed was £15,000 and the maximum sentence was 14 days imprisonment.

2.13

Although all pet animals are still required to spend six months in quarantine after import, a specific exception from the quarantine rules has been introduced for dogs and cats being moved commercially - in trade - from other Member States under EU rules implemented in the UK in 1994. Council Directive 92/65/EEC introduced new arrangements, the so-called Balai arrangements, to allow most traded dogs and cats to come into the UK and the Republic of Ireland from other Member States without going through quarantine, but subject to alternative safeguards.

2.14

The Balai arrangements were implemented in the UK by the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) (Amendment) Order 1994. This provides for commercially traded dogs and cats to enter the UK from other Member States (apart from the Republic of Ireland) without quarantine as long as they meet six conditions:

The animal was born on a registered holding and has remained there since birth, having no contact with wild animals susceptible to rabies.

It has been vaccinated against rabies with an inactivated vaccine of at least one international antigenic unit (WHO standard) when at least three months of age and at least six months before export.

It has been blood tested after vaccination to show that this had resulted in an adequate level of protective antibodies against rabies.

It is accompanied by a veterinary health certificate and vaccination record.

It is individually identified by implanted microchip.

Details of movement into the UK have been notified to one of the Agriculture Departments in the UK at least 24 hours in advance.

Traded dogs and cats which cannot meet these conditions, or which come from countries outside the EU, must still go through quarantine. Dogs and cats can, however, move between the UK and the Republic of Ireland without any restriction.

2.15

Between 1994 and May 1997, some 38 cats and 135 dogs were imported under these new arrangements.

2.16

There is an international protocol for carrying out the blood test necessary to confirm that vaccination has been effective. Dogs and cats moved under the Balai arrangements are required to have undergone, following a vaccination, a serological test showing a protective antibody titre of at least 0.5 international units per millilitre, which serological test should be carried out in accordance with WHO specifications'. The test can produce different results at different times in the same or different laboratories. As a result some laboratories have introduced minor variations. Work to resolve this crucial problem is underway internationally, and an alternative test which performs better has recently been included in the manual of the international veterinary organisation, the OIE (International Office of Epizootics). However, few laboratories are yet using the new test, and, crucially, they cannot check that they are obtaining comparable results. The timescale for completing this important work remains uncertain.

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