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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.

Sec. Infectious Agents and Disease

Using molecular approaches to determine rabies diversity in Haiti and Dominican Republic

Provisionally accepted
Rene Edgar CondoriRene Edgar Condori1*Augustin Pierre DiliusAugustin Pierre Dilius2Rolain CadetRolain Cadet2Griselda Lopez-NuñezGriselda Lopez-Nuñez3Elinna Diaz-MateoElinna Diaz-Mateo4Anna Kendy Gomez-BelliardAnna Kendy Gomez-Belliard5Yasmeen RossYasmeen Ross1Cassandra BoutelleCassandra Boutelle1Andres Velasco-VillaAndres Velasco-Villa1Crystal GiganteCrystal Gigante1Yu LiYu Li1Ryan M. WallaceRyan M. Wallace1
  • 1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, United States
  • 2Ministry of Agriculture, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
  • 3Laboratorio Nacional de Salud Pública Dr. Defilló, Ministerio de Salud Pública y Asistencia Social, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
  • 4Centro de Prevención y Control de Enfermedades Transmitidas por Vectores y Zoonosis (CECOVEZ), Ministerio de Salud Pública y Asistencia Social, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
  • 5Dirección Provincial de Salud Santiago, Ministerio de Salud Pública y Asistencia Social, Santiago, Dominican Republic

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Hispaniola, comprised of Haiti and Dominican Republic, is a rabies-endemic island. Since 2013, Haiti and Dominican Republic have operated advanced surveillance systems that increased the number of humans and animals tested. In this study, rabies positive samples collected between 2014 to 2023 were sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that rabies virus from Hispaniola forms a novel 'Caribbean subclade' with two distinct lineages; a major lineage associated with dogs and found across Haiti and in parts of Dominican Republic, and a second lineage associated with dogs and mongoose found only in the Dominican Republic. Phylogenetic data support dogs as the main rabies reservoir in Haiti and show evidence of cross-border transmission. In the eastern part of Dominican Republic, evidence supports mongooses as the primary reservoir of rabies. Subclades within Haiti suggest that geospatial segregation of dogs and rabies may offer opportunities for zoned rabies elimination programs.

Keywords: Rabies, phylogenetic, Caribbean, Haiti, Dominican Republic

Received: 18 Aug 2025; Accepted: 08 Dec 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Condori, Dilius, Cadet, Lopez-Nuñez, Diaz-Mateo, Gomez-Belliard, Ross, Boutelle, Velasco-Villa, Gigante, Li and Wallace. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Rene Edgar Condori

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material