MAD DOGS AND MEERKATS A HISTORY OF RESURGENT RABIES IN SA

THIS TITLE IS THE FIRST STUDY OF RABIES IN AFRICA, TRACING ITS HISTORY IN SOUTH AFRICA AND NEIGHBOURING STATES FROM 1800 TO THE PRESENT AND SHOWING HOW ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT BY EUROPEAN COLONIALISM AND GLOBAL TRADE HAVE HAD LONG-TERM EFFECTS. REVIEWING THE CURRENT SITUATION, THE AUTHOR LINKS THE INCREASE OF RABIES TO THE HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC. HER STUDY SHOWS THAT THE MOST AFFLICTED REGIONS OF SOUTH AFRICA HAVE SEEN A DANGEROUS RISE IN FERAL DOG POPULATIONS AS PEOPLE LACK THE EDUCATION, MEANS, OR WILL TO CARE FOR THEIR PETS OR TAKE THEM TO INOCULATION CENTRES. MOST VICTIMS ARE POOR BLACK CHILDREN. INEFFECTIVE DISEASE CONTROL, WHICH IN PART DEPENDS ON MANAGEMENT POLICIES IN NEIGHBOURING STATES AND THE DIMINISHED MEDICAL AND VETERINARY INFRASTRUCTURES IN ZIMBABWE, HAS EXACERBATED THE PROBLEM.