Molecular Genetic Analysis of the Rabies Virus Genome Isolated in Azerbaijan

Abstract

Rabies virus is a high pathogenic disease for humans and animals. In July 1885, Louis Pasteur obtained his first success against rabies by vaccinating Joseph Meister, a 9-year-old boy presenting with multiple deep bite wounds. After more than 700 successful inoculations, Pasteur launched an international subscription and opened the world’s first research institute dedicated to the prevention of rabies and other infectious diseases (Lontai, 2004; European Commission, 2011; Picard-Meyer et al., 2007; Heaton, et al., 1997). However, the rabies is still neglected for developing countries. Rabies virus is particularly useful for the study of neuronal circuits because of its ability to spread transsynaptically in the retrograde direction. RABV is distributed worldwide among specific mammalian reservoir hosts comprising various carnivore and bat species (William, 2013; Conrad, et al., 2011; Johnson et al., 2016).