Published Date: 2008-08-17 19:00:28
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Rabies, vulture die-off - India: link susp.
Archive Number: 20080817.2554
RABIES, VULTURE DIE-OFF - INDIA: LINK SUSPECTED
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Date: Tue 12 Aug 2008
Source: New Scientist, magazine issue 2668 [edited]
<http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19926684.400-rabies-tragedy-follows-loss-of-indias-vultures.html>
(for full article, subscription required)
Rabies tragedy follows loss of India's vultures
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A conservation catastrophe has become a human tragedy. The mass
poisoning that has killed millions of India's vultures may have
indirectly claimed the lives of almost 50 000 people, according to an
analysis of the wider impacts of the bird die-off.
Since the 1990s, numbers of long-billed, slender-billed and oriental
white-backed vultures have declined at an unprecedented rate. All 3
species could be driven toward extinction within a decade. The cause
is a veterinary drug called diclofenac, which was routinely given to
cattle. When the cattle died, vultures that fed on their carcasses
were poisoned by the drug. Although now banned in India, diclofenac
is stlll used to some extent.
It seems the drug has also had an unforeseen knock-on impact. As
vulture numbers crashed, the population of feral dogs across India
surged, feasting upon cattle carcasses that would otherwise have been
stripped bare by birds. Many of these dogs carry rabies, and now
scientists in the UK and India, led by Anil Markandya of the
University of Bath, UK, have put a figure on how many people have
died from rabies after being bitten by such dogs. "As the vultures
died, the population of rabid feral dogs across India surged,
feasting on uneaten cattle carcasses."
They calculate that the decline of vultures made way for at least 5.5
million extra feral dogs in India between 1992 and 2006. During this
[14-year] period, these extra dogs would have been responsible for at
least 38.5 million bites. National surveys show that in India 123
people die of rabies per 100 000 dog bites, suggesting that a minimum
of 47 300 people have died of rabies as a result of the vulture
die-off. Taking account of the cost of treating bite victims and
dealing with the extra deaths, the researchers calculate that the use
of diclofenac has indirectly cost India USD 34 billion.
Despite the scale of the disaster, "it is unfair to blame anyone, as
the impacts of diclofenac were unforeseen," says Markandya. "The
lesson is to check the consequences of drugs before using them for
animals that are part of an ecological system such as this." [How? -
Mod.JW]
[Byline: Matt Walker]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The total annual number of human deaths due to rabies in India, according to
the most recent (2004) figures appearing in WHO's RabNet website, was
17 000. No figures for later years are available. See:
(<http://www.who.int/globalatlas/dataQuery/reportData.asp?rptType=1>).
Diclofenac (trade names -- Voltaren, Cataflam, Solaraze) is an
anti-inflammatory drug, inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis, widely
used as a pain reliever & anti-inflammatory drug in humans and
animals. - Mod.AS
This article tries to lead the reader into believing that because
there are fewer vultures to clean the cattle carcasses, there are more
dogs with rabies. Nothing could be further from the truth. There may
be better fed dogs with more stomach ulcers and kidney deterioration
[from the diclofenac], but these do not relate to rabies. Rabies is
acquired through other mechanisms, generally a bite. Now if the
article were to try and persuade the reader that these packs of dogs
congregated around carcasses, thereby increasing the density of
unexposed dogs to rabies exposed dogs, then there might be some truth
to it. However, the current link that the drug has resulted in more
rabies deaths is unfounded and represents poor journalism. - Mod.TG]
See Also
Rabies, canine, bovine - India: (Kerala), susp. 20071115.37082006
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Vulture die-off - Africa, Asia (02) 20061110.3236
Vulture die-off - Africa, Asia 20060718.1978
Rabies, human, canine - India (Kerala) 20060427.1230
Rabies - India (Manipur) 20060324.0909
2005
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Rabies, human, bovine - India (Kerala) 20051121.3382
2004
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Vulture die-off - India, Pakistan, Nepal 20040204.0415
2003
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Rabies and vulture die-off - India 20030207.0329
Vulture die-off - India, Pakistan, Nepal (02) 20030620.1515
Vulture die-off - India: etiology 20030613.1459
Vulture die-off - India: RFI 20030612.1447
1998
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Pharmaceuticals contaminating drinking water (02) 19980418.0712
....................arn/ep/arn/ejp/jw
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