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Structural Repairs at the CFIA Ottawa Rabies Laboratory Completed

The second and final round of repairs at the Ottawa lab were completed on February 4th and we have resumed shipping packages to them. Once again, we want to thank everyone for their assistance and patience as we worked through the challenges of shipping Category B specimens to the Lethbridge location.

New RRP Software Tips: Human Exposure Submission Form When submitting multiple animals that have the same victim, original location and collection location you no longer have to submit separate forms. Follow the instructions below to submit more than one animal: Open the PHU Rabies Specimen Collection Request Submission Form for Human Exposure Cases Complete the "Animal Information" section for the 1st animal Click on the blue "Add Animal" button that is located at the bottom of the "Animal Information" section. A 2nd "Animal Information" section will appear where you will then enter the information for the 2nd animal. Continue to click the "Add Animal" button until you have completed the Animal Information section for the total number of animals being tested. Completing the form this way allows the system to create a unique Provincial Sample ID number for each animal while only having to enter the additional information once (i.e. collection location, victim details, PHU contacts, etc.). This number is required on all laboratory submission forms.

Rabies in Ontario - NDMNRF Report The NDMNRF is reporting on their results of wildlife testing (with no human/animal exposure), surveillance and bait drops. As of February 16th, 2022 the MNRF is reporting a total of 494 cases of raccoon strain and 21 cases of fox strain rabies in Ontario since the outbreak began in December 2015. In 2022, the NDMNRF has tested a total of 456 animals, all of which were negative for rabies. The total number of raccoon strain cases since the outbreak began in 2015 are distributed among the following Public Health Units: Hamilton: 215 raccoons, 112 skunks, 1 fox, 2 cats Haldimand-Norfolk: 30 raccoons, 2 skunks, 1 llama Niagara: 42 raccoons, 28 skunks, 1 dog Brant: 26 raccoons, 2 skunk Halton: 17 raccoons, 9 skunks Waterloo: 2 skunks The total number of fox strain cases since the outbreak began in 2015 are distributed among the following Public Health Units: Perth: 6 cows, 2 skunks Huron: 1 cow, 3 skunks Waterloo: 1 fox, 5 skunks Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 3 skunks

CFIA Report on Rabies in Canada The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has a website with statistics on all rabies cases in Canada (including the MNRF cases reported above) dating back to 1988. They update their website on the 28th day of each month. In 2021 there was a total of 2443 animals submitted for rabies testing across the country, including 1325 which were submitted by Ontario. Of these cases, 105 were positive for rabies, including 42 that were from Ontario. The rabies positive cases in Ontario are distributed among the following species: Bat: 27 Dog: 1 Raccoon: 2 Skunk: 12 Visit the CFIA website for more information on rabies in Canada.

Provincial Sample ID Numbering Update for AHL Cases From time to time the OAVT Public Health Rabies Response Program (RRP) receives requests from the University of Guelph's Animal Health Laboratories (AHL) to test animals that have come to them for necropsy and are suspicious of rabies but have not been involved in a human or animal exposure. These cases are assigned in the OAVT's database under the Public Health Unit that the animal lived in. Up until now, these cases were assigned a Provincial Sample ID Number using the prefix with the Year + ON (e.g. 2021ON-HAM-00001-RAC) similar to the Public Health human exposure cases you submit to us. If one of these AHL cases is determined to be positive for rabies the OAVT RRP emails the associated PHU to alert them that rabies has been detected in their area. In an effort to provide a clearer indication that these animals have not been reported to have had any human or animal exposure we have updated the Provincial Sample ID Numbering system for these cases. These cases will now include the prefix Year + AHLG, or Year +AHLK (e.g. 2022AHLG-HAM-001-RAC), dependant on whether the specimen was processed through the University of Guelph's Animal Health Laboratory in Guelph or Kemptville, Ontario. When the OAVT RRP receives a positive result from one of these cases we will still continue to email you a copy of the results to ensure you are aware that rabies has been detected in your PHU area.

Rabies in The News As rabies pops up in the North again this year, researchers look to predict future outbreaks Genomic surveillance helps prepare for rabies outbreaks in bats Imported canine rabies in Ontairo-again Preventing rabies in imported dogs

The OAVT Public Health Rabies Response Program 107-100 Stone Rd West Guelph, ON N1G 5L3 1-844-8RABIES www.oavtrrp.org rrp@oavt.org