Although rabies is enzootic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there is very little molecular epidemiological information about the viruses circulating in animals. In this study, a fragment of the rabies virus (RABV) nucleoprotein gene was amplified and sequenced from 21 animal brain samples collected in two western provinces of the country between 2008 and 2017. The samples tested were from cat (n = 1), dog (n = 17), goat (n = 2), and sheep (n = 1). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the sequences generated were highly similar to each other and belonged to lineage Africa 1b clustering with a single sample identified in a canine in the Republic of Congo in 2014. This is the first molecular epidemiological study of RABV in the DRC and the data generated will assist authorities in the development of effective control strategies for rabies in the country.

尽管狂犬病在刚果民主共和国是动物流行病，但关于动物中传播的病毒的分子流行病学信息很少。在这项研究中，从2008年至2017年间，从该国两个西部省份收集的21个动物脑样本中扩增并测序了狂犬病毒（RABV）核蛋白基因的片段。所测试的样本来自猫（n  = 1），狗（n  = 17），山羊（n  = 2）和绵羊（n = 1）。系统发育分析表明，产生的序列彼此高度相似，属于2014年在刚果共和国的犬科动物中鉴定的单个样本的非洲1b血统谱系。这是刚果民主共和国和拉美地区RABV的第一项分子流行病学研究。产生的数据将有助于当局制定该国狂犬病的有效控制策略。