Intradermal rabies vaccination: An efficient and economical method of rabies prevention in cattle

The present study was conducted to elucidate the comparison of rabies antibody titer in cattle vaccinated intramuscularly and intradermally with commercially available inactivated rabies vaccine. Twelve adult healthy cows divided into two groups of 6 animals each, were selected for the study and were vaccinated on day 0, 7 and 21. The animals in group I were vaccinated via IM route using 1ml of vaccine, while those of group-II were vaccinated via ID route using 0.1ml of vaccine on a single-site. Antibody titres against rabies were analyzed using the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) on the day of vaccination i. e. day 0, and on 7^th, 14^th and 28^th days post-vaccination. No significant statistical difference (p>0.05) was observed in the animals of the two groups vaccinated via IM and ID route during the entire period of study. All the animals vaccinated via ID and IM routes developed protective level of antibody titre of >0.5 IU/ml on day 14^th post-vaccination. ID route of vaccination was more economical as compared to IM route with 90% cost savings attained using ID route for pre-exposure rabies prophylaxis. From the study, it was concluded that intradermal route may be an alternative route for rabies prophylaxis.