Economic aspects of animal rabies prevention
Authors:   National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Makovska I. , Zhukovskyi M. ,   National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Nedosekov V. ,   National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine
Published: January 2021

One of the main zoonoses that causes significant social and economic damage to health, livestock development and the economy as a whole, especially in developing countries, is rabies. According to other estimates, the total damage from rabies is about $ 124 billion a year. Given that about 1 million animals die each year in the world, this complements the enormous economic damage to the world economy. However, despite the fact that rabies in wild and domestic animals poses a threat to human life and significant damage due to livestock loss, there are few studies to date that examine the economic impact of rabies among animals. Ukraine is no exception and for our country the importance of rabies cannot be overestimated, as there is both a veterinary and a medical and social component. Given that animal husbandry is the basis of the food base and a source of income for the state, the financial losses from the death of animals require detailed study. The purpose of the study is to investigate the economic losses from rabies among farm animals in Ukraine over the past decade and to show the economic feasibility of preventive measures. Analyzing the results of rabies incidence, we took into account the official data of annual reports of regional laboratories of veterinary medicine of the State Food and Consumer Services of Ukraine in the period from 2009 to 2018. Epizootological methods of research, analysis, synthesis, generalization of scientific-methodical and special literature and statistical methods are used in the work. Standard methods of MS Excel were used for statistical calculations. Categories of economic losses were established in the analysis of the main methodological provisions of the economics of veterinary medicine in animal husbandry. Given the fact that rabies, unlike other infectious diseases, registers 100% mortality of animals, the corpses of which, according to the instructions, must be burned, the categories of damage due to rabies are differentiated into losses from death, forced slaughter and destruction of animals, losses from non-production, disposal of carcasses and processing of raw materials from suspicious animals. It is established that during the 10-year period (2009-2018), according to the official data of the annual reports of the regional branches of the State Food and Consumer Service of Ukraine, 1762 farm animals fell ill with rabies. From them among cattle - 1512 heads, DRH - 200 heads, horses - 37 heads, pigs - 13 heads. According to our calculations, the economic losses from death or forced slaughter due to rabies in all species of farm animals in the period from 2009 to 2018 amounted to UAH 17,228,874. The calculation of losses from the shortage of raw materials (milk, meat, wool) was carried out only for cattle and sheep. According to the results the damage from the shortage of raw materials for cattle significantly exceeds the losses due to the death of animals. The calculation of the damage for the disposal of corpses was carried out taking into account the fact that the only type of disposal for rabies is incineration, and according to the instructions, the corpses of animals killed, dead or suspected of burning are burned together with the skin. As can be seen from Table 3, the losses from the disposal of carcasses of all farm animals killed by rabies for 10 years amounted to more than 8 million UAH. (UAH 8264613), of which UAH 7.9 million. only because of rabies in cattle, which is too much for a disease that could be prevented by preventive vaccination. If we calculate the total amount of economic damage, then for cattle for one year the losses are more than 8 million, and for 10 years, more than 80 million UAH, respectively. Based on the data listed in table 4, we can conclude that during 2009-2018 due to the death of farm animals from rabies, animal owners received total economic losses amounting to UAH 81,701,590, of which 98.7% relate to losses from death. Cattle, firstly, due to the largest number of sick animals, secondly, due to the lack of cattle in addition to meat and dairy products, and thirdly, significant costs for cremation of carcasses. Because the carcasses are large and it is forbidden to dissect the carcass, special large furnaces or trenches are needed to burn cattle. As of 2019, according to official data from the State Food and Consumer Service, the most tense epizootic situation was in five oblasts: Vinnytsia - 346, Cherkasy - 231, Khmelnytsky - 122, Zaporizhia - 114, Zhytomyr - 68 cases per year. Therefore, in our opinion, the introduction of the annual vaccination against cattle rabies, which is in the farms of the population in these five regions, will significantly reduce the number of cases among cattle. Given the number of livestock in these areas, we estimate that the number of animals to be vaccinated is 570,000. As rabies prevention measures are actively carried out at the state level and according to the Prozoro portal, the State Food and Consumer Service purchased Rabistar vaccines in the amount of UAH 82.86 million (number of doses 5.03 million, cost of one dose UAH 13.14), then, given the work of the service, it is quite possible to plan appropriate measures, realizing that veterinary costs will be: 570400 x 13.14 UAH. = UAH 7,495,056. Thus, vaccination of the entire herd of cows in the farms of the population in the five areas with the most intense epizootic situation with regard to cattle rabies would not only reduce to a minimum the number of cases of rabies among this species in the country as a whole, but also would have a fairly high economic efficiency. Thus, each hryvnia of veterinary costs aimed at the prevention of rabies among cattle in disadvantaged regions warns 9.03 UAH. losses in animal husbandry. In conclusion, it is necessary for the State Food and Consumer Service of Ukraine to consider the issue of vaccination of cattle and cattle in regions with a severe epizootic situation with regard to rabies and to assess the risks of rabies. We propose to develop and implement a national program on rabies control in Ukraine, to hold professional and public hearings, where some issues will consider the financing of rabies control measures, which should be based on SWOT analysis, risk assessment and modeling of rabies processes. Prospects for further research include assessing the risk of spreading rabies from pets and auditing the level of vaccination of dogs and cats with a depth of retrospection of at least 10 years.