BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Vet. Sci.

Sec. Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1598528

First Isolation of Rabies Virus from a Eurasian Badger (Meles meles) in Inner Mongolia, China, 2024

Provisionally accepted
Sixu ChenSixu Chen1Anyu BaoAnyu Bao1Gerile AodunGerile Aodun2Pei ZhangPei Zhang1Lu ZhangLu Zhang1Nan GaoNan Gao3Honglong QiaoHonglong Qiao4Wenying LiuWenying Liu5Qiang LiuQiang Liu6Yufei ZHANGYufei ZHANG1*
  • 1Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, China
  • 2School of Life Science, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
  • 3Wildlife Conservation Society of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, hohhot, China
  • 4Forestry and grassland bureau of Qingshuihe county, hohhot, China
  • 5Urban Management And Law Enforcement of Qingshuihe county, hohhot, China
  • 6Hohhot Landscape Construction Service Center, hohhot, China

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Rabies continues to pose a significant global zoonotic threat. In recent years, the increased spillover events of rabies viruses from wildlife to domestic animals have raised public health security concerns, prompting heightened international attention toward rabies management in wildlife populations. Our study reveals the first documented case of a rabies virus (RABV) strain isolated from Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) within Chinese ecosystems. Genetic analysis shows 99.4% nucleotide identity with dominant bovine-associated cosmopolitan lineages, offering robust evidence of interspecies transmission from wildlife reservoirs to domestic livestock. It is noteworthy that due to the special geographical location of this region, the habitat of Eurasian badgers overlaps with the territory of livestock and human settlements, thereby forming a transmission chain of rabies virus such as "fox-Eurasian badger-livestock" or " Eurasian badger-livestock". This critical finding highlights an urgent need for enhanced pathogen surveillance programs in pastoral regions where intensive human-wildlife-livestock interfaces create high-risk transmission zones.

Keywords: Rabies virus, Virus Isolation, Eurasian badger, Public Health, Livestock, phylogenetic analysis, Zoonotic disease

Received: 01 Apr 2025; Accepted: 06 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Bao, Aodun, Zhang, Zhang, Gao, Qiao, Liu, Liu and ZHANG. 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: Yufei ZHANG, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, China

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.

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