1. 1 1 FGI Federal Centre for Animal Health, Vladimir, Russia 2 Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira 3 Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland FINNISH-RUSSIAN COLLABORATION PROGRAMME ON RABIES CONTROL IN WILDLIFE: THE OUTCOME OF FIVE YEARS AND THE FUTURE PROSPECTS Metlin A.E *1,2,3., Rybakov S.S 1., Gruzdev K.N 1., Mikhalishin V.V 1., Huovilainen A 2., Neuvonen E 2. * artem.metlin@inbox.ru

2. 2 Rabies situation in Finland Finland is a rabies-free country since 1991; The last sylvatic rabies epidemic in Finland took place in 1988-1989 (the main wild vector – raccoon dogs); Oral anti-rabies vaccination of wild carnivores started in 1988; Since 1989 only 1 case of rabies (horse imported from Estonia) was recorded in 2003.

3. 3 Rabies situation in Russia Russia is endemic for rabies for a long time; Rabies cases in wild, domestic and farm animals are recorded every year; A few rabies cases in humans are recorded annually; Oral anti-rabies vaccination is conducted in a few regions non- systematically.

4. 4 The number of animal rabies cases in the Russian Federation for the last 8 years

5. 5 Number of animal rabies cases in the Russian Federation in 2006

6. 6 In the frames of the program the following work was done: Rabies monitoring in Russian regions bordering Finland; Arrangement of anti-rabies buffer zone on the Finnish- Russian border using oral vaccines; Safety and immunogenisity testing of oral anti-rabies vaccines; Collection and antigenic and genetic characterization of the field rabies viruses; Entire genome sequencing and genetic characterisation of vaccine strain RV-97; Differentiation of vaccine and field strains with restriction and Real-Time PCR

7. 7 Anti-rabies vaccination area on the Finnish- Russian border

8. 8 Comparison of immunogenicity of oral anti-rabies vaccines

9. 9 Vaccine study Fuchsoral vaccine was found more immunogenic; Both vaccines were found safe when 10 fold dose of vaccine virus was administrated to animals; Vaccinated animals survived after the challenge with the field rabies virus strain while control animals died.

10. 10 Monoclonal antibody characterization of rabies viruses (panel of 5 antinucleocapsid monoclonal antibodies was kindly donated by Dr J. Cox, Wusterhausen, Germany)

11. 11 Geographical distribution of the antigenic variants revealed among the viruses studied

12. 12 Genetic study with field rabies viruses and vaccine strains Brain samples of 35 rabid animals; 14 regions of Russia, including North Western, Western, Southern, Caucasian, Central and Siberian parts of the Russian Federation. Archival Finnish and Estonian viruses. Two Russian vaccine strains were included in this study (RV-97 and Sheep).

13. 13 Phylogenetic relations of two major phylogroups from Eurasian continent and vaccine strains

14. 14 Geogra phical location of the genetic groups

15. 15 Entire genome sequencing of the vaccine strain RV-97

16. 16 Phyloge- netic relation of vaccine strains on complete protein sequences

17. 17 Ongoing research work: Development of the techniques for express differentiation of the field rabies viruses and vaccine strains on the basis of: restriction of RT-PCR products with restriction enzymes; Real-Time PCR.

18. 18 Conclusion and Future Prospects This collaboration was effective and useful for both countries; Two major genogroups and several subgroups were found among viruses from Russia; To fully characterize geographical distribution of the major genogroups revealed further studies need to be conducted; International trans-border collaboration to control rabies is very essential and must be continued.

19. 19 References for this study Metlin A.E., Cox J., Rybakov S.S., Huovilainen A., Grouzdev K. and Neuvonen E. (2004) Monoclonal antibody characterization of rabies virus isolates from Russia, Finland and Estonia. J. Vet. Med. B, Vol. 51, pp. 94-96. Metlin A.E., Rybakov S.S., Gruzdev K.N., Neuvonen E., Cox J., Huovilainen A. (2006) Antigenic and molecular characterization of field and vaccine rabies virus strains in the Russian Federation. Dev. Biol. Vol. 125. pp. 33-37. Metlin A.E., Holopainen R., Tuura S., Ek-Kommonen C., Huovilainen A. (2006) Imported case of equine rabies in Finland: clinical course of the disease and the antigenic and genetic characterization of the virus. J. Equine Vet. Sci. Vol. 26, pp. 584- 587. Metlin A., Rybakov S., Gruzdev K., Neuvonen E., Huovilainen A. (2007) Genetic heterogeneity of Russian, Estonian and Finnish field rabies viruses. Arch. Virol. In press.