Efficacy of the first oral vaccination against fox rabies in Slovenia

Fox population reduction was the first measure undertaken to control rabies in foxes, but this proved unsuccessful. The promising results of oral immunisation of foxes against rabies in some European countries encouraged the authorization of the first rabies vaccination of foxes in the field in Slovenia, in October 1988. In the present study, intervention analysis is used to evaluate the results of this vaccination campaign. The analysis took into account the cyclic nature of fox rabies and the possible effects of variability in the fox carcass submission rate. The results confirmed the decrease in fox rabies after the launch of the vaccination campaign. The reduction was independent of both cyclic oscillations in fox rabies and variability in carcass submission rate, thus indicating a positive net effect of the vaccination.