Efficacy of three oral rabies vaccine-baits in the red fox: a comparison.

The three commercial vaccine-baits currently available in western Europe were fed to caged red foxes. The vaccines were: SADB19, Bundesforschunganstalt für Viruskrankheiten der Tiere-Tübingen, Germany: a live attenuated rabies strain; SAG1 VIRBAC, France: low pathogenicity mutant of the SAD strain and "Raboral", Rhône-Mérieux, France: a vaccinia rabies glycoprotein recombinant (V-RG). Protection rates conferred by the vaccine-baits were respectively 7 of 15 (SADB19), 5 of 9 (SAG1) and 6 of 12 (V-RG) when the vaccinated foxes were challenged intramuscularly with 10(4.7) Mice Intra-Cerebral Lethal Doses 50% (MICLD50) of rabies virus which killed all of 6 unvaccinated control foxes.