Objective: Evaluation of antirabies Ab titre in different time after vaccination and number of received dose in pet dogs and compare with nonvaccinated and stray dogs in Urmia.
Design: Cohort study by retrospective method.
Animals: Pet and stray dogs.
Procedure: Taking of blood, serum isolation and measurment of Ab titre by ELISA method in 3 groups of dogs (vaccinated, nonvaccinated pet dogs and stray dogs), determinig of mean titre in each group and compare with others by statistic tests.
Statistical analysis: Using ANOV A, t-test and Duncan's test.
Results: Out of 60 sera from vaccinated dogs, 49 cases (81.6%) had protective Ab titres between 0.5 to 2.40 VI/ml, but nonvaccinated pet dogs and stray dogs didn't show the valuable titre of Ab. The highest titre of Ab obtained in dogs was 2.40 UL/ml, with frequency of 6 samples, which have received 3 doses of rabies vaccines.
Clinical implications: The present study of Ab levels in vaccinated dogs indicated that a single injection dose of rabies vaccine often failed to result adequate protective Ab titre, and did not produce a lasting Ab titre in a significant group of dogs: It is suggested that in rabies endemic regions, dogs should be vaccinated from 3 months of age. J. Fac. Vet. Med. Univ. Tehran. 57,4: 65-68, 2002.
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