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PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2016 12 9;10(12):e0005062. Epub 2016 Dec 9.

USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America.

Raccoon rabies is endemic in the eastern U.S.; however, an epizootic had not been confirmed on Long Island, New York until 2004. Read More

J Anim Ecol 2015 11 21;84(6):1720-31. Epub 2015 Aug 21.

Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USA.

Infectious disease transmission often depends on the contact structure of host populations. Although it is often challenging to capture the contact structure in wild animals, new technology has enabled biologists to obtain detailed temporal information on wildlife social contacts. In this study, we investigated the effects of raccoon contact patterns on rabies spread using network modelling. Read More

MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 1994 Apr;43(15):269-73

Although the incidence of rabies is low among domestic animals in the United States, the recent increase in the occurrence of wildlife rabies has increased the risk for infection of humans. From 1991 to 1992, the number of reported cases of rabies in raccoons increased 40%, from 3079 to 4311. Of the 8644 animals reported rabid during 1992, a total of 3759 (43%) were raccoons in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern states. Read More

Biol Lett 2009 Jun 25;5(3):387-90. Epub 2009 Mar 25.

Natural Resources DNA Profiling and Forensic Centre, Trent University, DNA Building, 2140 East Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada.

A landscape genetic simulation modelling approach is used to understand factors affecting raccoon rabies disease spread in southern Ontario, Canada. Using the Ontario Rabies Model, we test the hypothesis that landscape configuration (shape of available habitat) affects dispersal, as indicated by genetic structuring. We simulated range expansions of raccoons from New York into vacant landscapes in Ontario, in two areas that differed by the presence or absence of a landscape constriction. Read More