| dc.description.abstract | Background: Temperature change in the Tropics has profound impacts on all ecosystems and
transmission of infectious diseases by their vectors leading to emergency and re-emergency of
neglected tropical diseases. Rabies is one neglected tropical disease with the highest case fatality
rate. Predictors of rabies have been studied but no study has queried the impact temperature change
on burden of rabies. Such abiotic components are worth not to undermine in the ecosystem.
Objective: To determine the effect of temperature on rabies burden in Tropical countries over the
past 30 years.
Methods: Meta analysis was carried out. Published researches between 1981 and 2021 were
comprehensively searched and the required information was extracted. The prevalence was
estimated using the random-effects meta-analysis. Heterogeneity, I2
, between studies was
computed.
Results: The pooled estimate of rabies was 17% (95% CI: 14–20%), with individual study prevalence estimates ranged from 0 to 92%. Studies were approximately weighted equally with
individual weight ranging from 1.116–2.719%. Subgroup analysis indicated that the random
pooled prevalence of rabies was 34% (95% CI: 10–61%) in dogs and 0% (95% CI: 0–1%) in
humans. Furthermore, a subgroup analysis across regions indicated that the pooled prevalence was
65% in Cameroon, 47% in Canada, 47% in Canada and 11% in the United states. Very few studies
were reported from Africa to be included in this meta-analysis. Tropical countries that had
experienced a temperature change above the average(0.18C) had a higher prevalence (21%) of
rabies than those that had below 0.18C change.
Conclusion: The estimated pooled rabies prevalence was found high in areas that had experienced
a larger magnitude of temperature change and showed varying results among study regions and
host species. Therefore, focusing on mass dog vaccination campaigns and public awareness should
be implemented to control the disease. | en_US |
