A new outbreak of rabies in rare Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis)

Between October 2008 and May 2009, five brain samples from the carcasses of the rare Ethiopian wolf (Canis simenensis) were submitted for rabies virus testing. Rabies virus was detected in all five samples, and this confirmed that a further outbreak of rabies had occurred within the wolf population in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia. Sequence comparison of a partial fragment of the nucleoprotein-coding gene demonstrated that all viruses showed 100% sequence identity, suggesting a single introduction of rabies virus.