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Cases of rabies among wildlife in Germany are increasing and threaten to spread into rabies-free France, triggering accusations that German authorities are not properly administering vaccination programs that have been successful elsewhere.
Some 19 wildlife cases of rabies were reported in Germany during the last quarter of 2004, compared with only eight cases in the previous quarter, according to the most recent figures from the World Health Organization's Rabies Bulletin Europe. Of the 19, 14 were in the central western state of Hesse. Of those, 11 were in foxes, a prime rabies risk in Western Europe.
The rise in wildlife rabies cases in Germany is causing concern in neighboring France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, which have succeeded over the last 4 to 7 years in eradicating wildlife rabies. Germany had also come close to eradicating rabies—between 2001 and late last year, the disease wildlife had been confined to a small area in southern Hesse.
Florence Cliquet, director of the rabies laboratory of Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments in Nancy, told The Scientist she had been monitoring the German situation with increasing concern as rabies cases spread from Hesse into Baden-Württemberg.
Cliquet's concern turned to alarm in January, she said, when Thomas Müller, rabies expert at the German Research Institute for Animal Health, informed her the disease had crossed westward across the Rhine River into Rhineland-Palatinate, which borders France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
Cliquet immediately asked French health ministry officials to allocate money for an emergency wildlife rabies vaccination program set to begin May 16 over 4000 square kilometers along the German border. A second vaccination program will be undertaken in the autumn.
"France has always been a little bit concerned about rabies control in Germany," Cliquet said, suggesting Germany had failed to adapt its control efforts to recommendations for oral vaccinations of foxes issued in 2002 by the European Union.
The success of France and other nations to eliminate wildlife rabies is proof that it can be done, Cliquet said. "From my point of view, the tools, the means, are available to combat rabies. Probably Germany does not use the tools very well."
When asked how she felt about the revival of rabies in Germany, Cliquet said: "We are angry. We have spent a lot of money and time to successfully combat this disease… and now this."
Müller told The Scientist by E-mail that German authorities did follow the EU recommendations. However, he admitted that mistakes were made, including management problems that led to inconsistent vaccination, difficulties with vaccine storage, a lack of focus, and insufficient cooperation among neighboring states.
As head of the national reference laboratory, Müller also accepted blame: "The involvement of the national reference laboratory was not as deep, in particular as planning and coordinating activities were concerned, as it is now." But he also put part of the blame on increased fox populations and on the fact that rabid foxes have been reported in urban and suburban areas, making it difficult to vaccinate.
Jacques Fevrier, administrator in the European Union's Directorate General, Health and Consumer Protection, told The Scientist that EU officials are monitoring the situation in Germany. "We are concerned," he said.
Fevrier said it was too early to place blame on German rabies authorities, but "something is wrong. Rabies is extending in Germany. So there is something wrong somewhere, but I don't know what is wrong at this stage."
An official report on the Germany's rabies efforts has been prepared and will be released publicly in coming days on the European Union's Food and Veterinary Office Website.
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