Sorry if this has been discussed before, but I was just scanning a recent Sports Afield and saw a short squib on a rabies epidemic among greater kudu in Nambibia. Apparently this happens every couple of decades. But what will this mean for kudu hunters in the next couple of seasons?

I emailed my PH Dirk Rohrmann at Okanduks Seibe about this quite some time ago this is what he had to say about it

"As far as Rabies is concerned that is pretty normal for Namibia. We do have Rabies all over the country. Some times more up in the North and than in the South and so on. It comes and goes in waves. We have had Rabies in our area about 1 1/2 years ago but now it’s more up to the North. A couple of weeks ago we found one bull and I was quite sure he had Rabies. So it’s coming and going. Overall it’s depending on overpopulation and we still have far too many Kudus all over Namibia. If you shoot a Kudu you will never know if he got Rabies or not. Incubation time is up to 2 years but if Rabies breaks actually out, the animals dies within 24 hours. Immediately after the animal has died the Rabies virus is dead too. So you can certainly use the cape / horns. You are right, you can even eat the meat from an animal what died on Rabies given the virus dies so fast but I prefer not to but I’m sure that I have eaten meat from animals with Rabies many time not knowing it. At least Rita keeps telling me that I some times behave strange and that I must have Rabies"

Rgards Runas

Kudu were notably scarce this past Sept in Namibia (150 kms NW of Windhoek). Three years ago that area got hit as well.

I would recommend RSA or maybe Botswana for Kudu. I have a good areas in both places if you are looking for a recommendation. I wouldn't send you to our area in Namibia if Kudu was your top "must have".

The word that I got when I was in Namibia in August is that kudu rabies (which is "different" from regular rabies), comes through about every 10 years and decimates the herds. It is transmitted kudu to kudu through licking one another and salt licks.

The virus dies very quickly when the host animal dies. I was told that it dies so quickly that it is not an issue in being around the dead animal. Kudude

Rabies comes and goes. The worst one was during the eighties when you could really notice that rabies took its toll. Nature conservation just released the stats. being 3% in "infected" areas. Shot plenty of kudus this year and all were okay. Found one that might have died of rabies.
regs kamaatu

quote:

Originally posted by RUNAS:
I emailed my PH Dirk Rohrmann at Okanduks Seibe about this quite some time ago this is what he had to say about it

<Snip>

Immediately after the animal has died the Rabies virus is dead too.

<Snip>

The statement about the rabies virus being dead 'immediately' after the animal has died is very far from true.

Rabies is a virus, an entity that does not breathe, metabolize or even live or die in the sence that we normally use these word in. For the purpose of this discussion I will describe only two states of the virus: (i) No-infective which can be very roughly called 'dead'. (ii) The other state is infective; it can cause your death!

I, for one, would be very carefull with a kudu that has just been shot and that has shown signs of disease. I would most certainly not offer to help to remove the guts, as a knick with a knife can expose you to infective rabies virus! How long after the shot the different tissues, blood, syliva, meat, brains, ect. still contain infective rabies viruses, I don't quite know. The virus may certainly find that is is more difficult to remain inferctive in the tissues of the 'just shot' kudu, than it was before the shot. The degradation of tissues in such a shot animal is slow. It for example takes a few minutes before all the oxygen in the bolld and tissues is depleted. Then the very gradual process of degradation leading to rigor mortis, the stiffness of death, sets in. About at what stage the exponential decrease in the infectivity sets is I'm not sure of. But the bit of biochemist that remain in me tells me that 'death' of the rabies virus after an animal is shot is most definately NOT 'immediate'!

I would not go so far as to advise a hunter to not go hunt in Namibia. However, I do advise to use exreme caution when handling a shot kudu, even one with no visible signs of infection, in an area where rabies is know to be present.

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

Now you tell me!!!Kudude