Arctic rabies virus is a strain of Rabies lyssavirus that circulates throughout the arctic regions of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia. There have been no cases in Sweden or mainland Norway in over 100 years. The virus is, however, found on Svalbard. No cases have been reported in Finland since 1989. The Arctic fox is the main host.[1][2]
Arctic rabies virus belongs to the family Rhabdoviridae and the genus Lyssavirus. Arctic rabies virus represents one of four genotypes of rabies, all of which have been shown to adapt to different hosts which include fruit- and insect-eating bats and the Arctic fox.[3]
Arctic rabies viruses circulating in Arctic countries are phylogenetically related to rabies viruses in India. The Indian arctic-like rabies virus is referred to as Arctic/Arctic-like (AL) lineage. This lineage accounts for the type circulating across almost all of India. Using phylogenetic analysis and Bayesian methods, the Indian viruses emerged from a common progenitor within the last 40 years. The Arctic-AL lineage emerged within the last 200 years, a time-frame that coincides with the invasion of Canada by the clade.[4]
Clinical appearance
The incubation period for Arctic rabies virus varies from 8 days to 6 months in the Arctic fox. Observed symptoms include increased aggression (including snapping and biting), foaming at the mouth, and running in circles.[5][6]
↑Torill Mørk1* and Pål Prestrud. Arctic Rabies – A Review. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 2004, 45:1-9
↑Cherkasskiy BL: The epidemiological surveillance on Arctic fox rabies. WHO/NVI Workshop on Arctic fox rabies, Uppsala, Sweden. Background papers 1990, 25-28
↑Degaard ØA, Krogsrud J: Rabies in Svalbard: Infection diagnosed in Arctic fox, reindeer and seal.Vet Rec 1981, 109:141-42.
↑Susan A. Nadin-Davis, Mary Sheen, Alexander I. Wandeler. Recent Emergence of the Arctic Rabies Virus Lineage. Virus Research. Volume 163, Issue 1, January 2012, pages 352-362.
