Utility of Skin Biopsy Sample for Rabies Diagnosis in Dogs

Utility of Skin Biopsy Sample for Rabies Diagnosis in Dogs

Background: Rabies is endemic to India and is the most feared disease of all times. Dogs are the main vectors of rabies in India contributing to more than 90% of human rabies cases. Presently, confirmatory diagnosis of rabies in dogs is done by fluorescent antibody test (FAT) on brain tissue from a dead dog. However, obtaining brain tissue by necropsy poses several hazards and hence there is a need to evaluate alternative methods for diagnosis of canine rabies. The present study evaluated the utility of nuchal skin biopsy sample for the detection of rabies in dogs.