Molecular characterization of rabies virus transmitted from a dog to a bull in a livestock market in Ghana

Theophilus Odoom^1*Richard Kwamena Abbiw²Joseph Kofi Abuh³Daniel Arthur¹Benita Anderson³Emmanuel Allegye-Cudjoe³Sherry Ama Mawuko Johnson^4*William Tasiame⁵Tirumala Settypalli⁶Charles Euloge Lamien⁶William Dundon⁶

• ¹Accra Veterinary Laboratory, Veterinary Services Directorate, Ghana, Accra, Ghana
• ²West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
• ³Veterinary Services Directorate, Accra, Ghana
• ⁴School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
• ⁵School of Veterinary Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
• ⁶Animal Production and Health Laboratory, Animal Production and Health Section, Joint FAO/IAEA Centre, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria

On the 24/09/2023, a video of a suspected rabid bull at a livestock market in Ghana was shared on social media and was seen by a local veterinary officer. This led to an on-site investigation by veterinary authorities on the 25/09/2023 which concluded that the bull had been bitten by a three-month old dog four days previously. The puppy, which was killed and buried after the bite, was subsequently exhumed, tested and confirmed positive for rabies. The bull was humanely destroyed. Brain tissue from the bull was collected and sent to the Accra Veterinary Laboratory for further analysis. RABV was confirmed by conventional RT-PCR and the full genome of the viruses from both animals were sequenced. The consensus sequences of the genomes belonging to the Africa 2 clade, were identical although sub-consensus variants in a subset of the sequences located in the RNA-dependent-RNA polymerase (L) gene of the bovine virus were observed. The implication of these findings is discussed.