Vaccine-induced Rabies in a Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes): Isolation of Vaccine Virus in Brain Tissue and Salivary Glands

Oral vaccination campaigns to eliminate fox rabies were initiated in Slovenia in 1995. In May 2012, a young fox (Vulpes vulpes) with typical rabies signs was captured. Its brain and salivary gland tissues were found to contain vaccine strain SAD B19. The Basic Logical Alignment Search Tool alignment of 589 nucleotides determined from the N gene of the virus isolated from the brain and salivary glands of the affected fox was 100% identical to the GenBank reference SAD B19 strain. Sequence analysis of the N and M genes (4,351 nucleotides) showed two nucleotide modifications at position 1335 (N gene) and 3114 (M gene) in the KC522613 isolate identified in the fox compared to SAD B19.