Canine rabies ecology in southern Africa.

Rabies is a widespread disease in African domestic dogs and certain wild canine populations. Canine rabies became established in Africa during the 20th century, coinciding with ecologic changes that favored its emergence in canids. I present a conceptual and terminologic framework for understanding rabies ecology in African canids. The framework is underpinned by 2 distinct concepts: maintenance and persistence. Maintenance encompasses the notion of indefinite transmission of infection within a local population and depends on an average transmission ratio > or =1. Maintenance in all local populations is inherently unstable, and the disease frequently becomes extinct. Persistence, the notion of long-term continuity, depends on the presence of rabies in > or =1 local population within the canine metapopulation at any time. The implications for understanding rabies ecology and control are reviewed, as are previous studies on rabies ecology in African canids.