Rabies surveillance, trends in animal rabies and human post-exposure treatment in Poland, 1990 -2004

This paper describes recent changes in the epizootical and epidemiological situation of rabies in Poland. Analysis of routine surveillance data on animal cases and human post-exposure treatment was performed in order to examine the impact of introduction of cell culture vaccine for human use and the implementation of the fox immunisation programme. The success of the immunisation programme for wild animals has become evident during the past 3 years, as a 9-fold decrease in animal rabies cases has been observed. To date, however, the downward trend in animal rabies cases has had no effect on the frequency of administration of the post-exposure treatment for humans. Moreover, two cases of locally acquired human rabies have occurred in patients who did not receive post-exposure vaccination. These cases prove that rabies should be still considered a public health concern in Poland.