Public health implications of an outbreak of rabies in arctic foxes and reindeer in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway, September 2011

E MacDonald; K Handeland; H Blystad; M Bergsaker; M Fladberg; B Gjerset; O Nilsen; H Os; S Sandbu; E Stokke; L Vold; I Ørpetveit; H Gaup Åmot; O Tveiten

doi:10.2807/ese.16.40.19985-en

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Public health implications of an outbreak of rabies in arctic foxes and reindeer in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway, September 2011
E MacDonald¹ , K Handeland² , H Blystad¹ , M Bergsaker¹ , M Fladberg¹ , B Gjerset² , O Nilsen¹ , H Os³ , S Sandbu¹ , E Stokke⁴ , L Vold¹ , I Ørpetveit² , H Gaup Åmot³ , O Tveiten⁵
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Affiliations: ¹ Norwegian Institute of Public Health (Nasjonalt Folkehelseinstitutt), Oslo, Norway ² Norwegian Veterinary Institute (Veterinærinstituttet), Oslo, Norway ³ Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet), Oslo, Norway ⁴ The Governor of Svalbard (Sysselmannen), Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway ⁵ Longyearbyen hospital, Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway

Correspondence:
E MacDonald
Emily.MacDonald fhi.no
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Citation style for this article: MacDonald E, Handeland K, Blystad H, Bergsaker M, Fladberg M, Gjerset B, Nilsen O, Os H, Sandbu S, Stokke E, Vold L, Ørpetveit I, Gaup Åmot H, Tveiten O. Public health implications of an outbreak of rabies in arctic foxes and reindeer in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway, September 2011. Euro Surveill. 2011;16(40):pii=19985. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.16.40.19985-en Received: 30 Sept 2011

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Abstract

Between 16 September and 5 October 2011 rabies was diagnosed in two arctic foxes and eight reindeer in the Svalbard archipelago, in Norway. This outbreak occurs at the end of the reindeer hunting season and poses an increased risk to many people that were involved in the hunt. As of 28 September 2011, 280 people had received post-exposure prophylaxis. No human cases of rabies have occurred.