The highly pathogenic avian influenza A-H5N1 viruses have been present for over a decade in Southern China and spread in multiple waves to different types of poultry in countries across Asia, Africa and Europe [26] . As a result, highly pathogenic A-H5N1 is now a panzootic disease and represents a continuous threat for human spill-over. Strong surveillance has been in place since these viruses caused extensive outbreaks, but the source and early dissemination pathways have remained uncertain. Because parsimony analysis has attempted to shed light on the latter [22] , A-H5N1 provides an ideal example for comparison with Bayesian phylogeographic inference. Rabies is endemic in Asia and Africa, where the primary reservoir and vector for rabies virus (RABV) is the domestic dog. Phylogenetic analysis has revealed several genotypes of lyssaviruses (family Rhabdoviridae); genotype 1 has been found responsible for classical rabies, a fatal disease in terrestrial mammals throughout the world [27, 28] . Here, we explore the phylogeographic history of RABV in domestic dogs in West Central Africa, using recently obtained sequence data, and evaluate the role of viral dispersal in maintaining RABV epidemic cycles.