Status of Maternal Derived Antibody Against Rabies in Naive Puppies in Chennai

ABSTRACT

Thirty-six blood samples were collected randomly from puppies [18 puppies each from vaccinated (Group I) and unvaccinated (Group II) dam] brought to Immunization Unit, Madras Veterinary College Teaching Hospital, Chennai. The samples were subjected to functional antibody assay (RFFIT) to know the kinetics of maternal derived antibody (MDA) against rabies. The mean MDA titre in group I and II puppies were found as 1.07 ± 0.18 IU/mL and 0.30 ± 0.037 IU/mL respectively. The statistical analysis (Student “t” test) revealed a highly significant difference (P<0.01) between MDA of two groups. Thus, this study strongly suggests that the dogs less than three months of age in endemic regions needs to be immunized against rabies in view of maintaining the population immunity and to reduce the bioburden of rabies risk.