Resumen

HIDALGO, Mayra  A; PAPO, Sara M.; PLAZA, Noris E.  y  MORENO, Fautino E.. Caracterización Antigénica de Cepas de Virus Rábico Aisladas de Diferentes Regiones en Venezuela. Periodo 2001-2004. Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias [online]. 2005, vol.46, n.1, pp.33-41. ISSN 0258-6576.

 Forty-five rabies strains from domestic animals, collected in Venezuela between 2001 and 2004, were characterized by using eight anti-nucleoprotein monoclonals antibodies. Of all strains analyzed, 37 were isolated from bovines, 1 from canine, 1 from cat, 4 from equines and 2 from ovines,  distributed on diverse regions of the country. Antigenic characterization demostrated that all strains were identified as variant 3 associated with Desmodus rotundus bats, suggesting that vampire bats were the principal transmissive specie of rabies virus to domestic animals during the studied period. This variant was isolated in a dog and a cat of urban areas free of canine rabies, indicating that vampire bats invaded in that moment, a niche that would not belong to their natural environment, transmissing rabies virus to pets. This is the second epidemiological research within the last ten years carried out in Venezuela to demostrate the variants of rabies virus which are circulating in the country.

Palabras clave : Domestic  animals; rabies; chiroptera; inmunofluorescence; antigens; disease surveillance; Aragua.