Deforestation and Bovine Rabies Outbreaks in Costa Rica, 1985–2020

Abstract

In Latin America, rabies virus has persisted in a cycle between Desmodus rotundus vampire bats and cattle, potentially enhanced by deforestation. We modeled bovine rabies virus outbreaks in Costa Rica relative to land-use indicators and found spatial-temporal relationships among rabies virus outbreaks with deforestation as a predictor.

Keywords

• rabies
• Agriculture
• Animals
• Cattle
• Chiropteran
• Conservation