Should the use the Vampiricide Paste be Abolished in the Control of the Hematophagous Bat, the Main Transmitter of Rabies to Humans and Herbivores in Latin America? |Biomedgrid

The Latin American livestock industry is strongly affected by the presence of the hematophagous bat Desmodus rotundus (É. Geoffroy, 1810) due to its effect on meat and milk production and the transmission of rabies to herbivores, causing the loss of over 50 million dollars a year [1]. Furthermore, this species has also an impact on public health because of spoliations and rabies transmission to humans [2]. Since the 1970's, many Latin American countries implemented programs for the control of rabies transmitted by D. rotundus to herbivores and humans [3]. However, in these 50 years, the programs have had a small contribution to reducing the negative effects of rabies [3]. From the beginning, the population control of D. rotundus in these programs was carried out with an extensive use of vampiricide paste by two ways: Use around the wound on bovines e equines and topical application on bats [4,5].