The Fellow: Trapping Bats to Protect South African Communities from Rabies

As a recipient of an O.C. Hubert Student Fellowship in International Health, Michael Russell D.V.M., a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin veterinary school, spent four weeks in South Africa in August and September of 2004 participating in the initial stages of a lyssavirus surveillance program. Lyssaviruses, which include the well-known rabies virus, pose a significant health risk to the human population of South Africa.

I was both excited and nervous about going to South Africa. I had no idea what living and working conditions would be like for the next month, what kind of obstacles we would face while gathering our data, and how easily I would be able to communicate with our South African hosts.

Dr. Charles Rupprecht, a veterinarian, team leader of CDC’s Rabies Section and our guide and mentor described our goal: to trap bats and small mammals, identify the species and obtain appropriate tissue samples. Bats and small mammals, most notably the shrew, are suspected of being reservoirs for lyssavirus - meaning they can carry the virus without getting ill and transmit it to humans. Subsequent laboratory analyses of the samples collected would determine if lyssavirus was present and identify the virus type.

Upon arrival, we met with Dr. Louis Nel of the University of Pretoria to discuss the history of lyssaviruses in South Africa and his group’s current research. I was relieved that Dr. Nel and most everyone in his group spoke fluent English, because I didn’t speak any Afrikaans. The next morning, we loaded a minivan and a Land Rover with supplies – bat nets, traps for small mammals, dissecting tools, sleeping bags and basic food needs – and set off for the northeastern part of the country. We arrived at a banana, mango and lichi tree plantation in Nelspruit near Krueger National Park.

Each afternoon, we prepared several nets and placed them where we suspected high bat activity: in creek beds, cisterns, runways next to fruit trees and along dams. When a bat became entangled in a net, the animal was carefully removed and processed under sedation. Processing involved recording species, weight, size and gender; collecting blood and saliva samples; and finally removing the brain. While veterinary school had prepared me to handle animals and collect samples, working on such small animals initially proved to be challenging. Dr. Rupprecht, however, was an excellent teacher and soon the whole process moved along very smoothly.

After four days in Nelspruit, we spent the next two weeks trapping small mammals at several sites including a game reserve, the Hogsback Mountains and along the southeastern coast. At most of these sites, accommodations were simple, with a sleeping bag on a mattress and cold showers. Food was always readily available and very tasty.

We then returned to the University of Pretoria, and processed the brain samples with a new lyssavirus rapid identification test developed at CDC. None of our samples tested positive, which was a little disappointing, but our main goal was to set up the process for sample collection. Future research teams would select sites in areas with a higher incidence of rabies.

As I left South Africa, I felt a lot of satisfaction that I was able to share my skills as a veterinary student with my hosts as well as gratitude to my hosts for sharing their knowledge with me and making me feel very welcome in an unfamiliar world. My fellowship in South Africa gave me the opportunity to work with people of vastly different backgrounds, each providing a unique perspective while working to protect people from a disease that is difficult to uncover. This experience helped me better understand how I, as a practicing veterinarian, can be involved in public health issues that affect animals, people and communities around the world.

The Donor: Addressing the Root Causes of Human Suffering

The following is a conversation with Richard N. Hubert, chairman and CEO of the O.C. Hubert Charitable Trust.

Why do you believe the O.C. Hubert Student Fellowship in International Health is important?

All a person that sets up a foundation can do is to provide funds for the people who go out to do the real work. That’s why this fellowship is important. The fellows are motivated to help, have shown a propensity to want to do that with their life work, and want to find out if they’re equipped to see it through. What could be better than to send these students out to deal with public health situations first hand and to give them an opportunity to use their practical skills to impact the health and survival of a community in need?

You cannot substitute for that kind of experience and training. And it has long-lasting effects both internationally and here at home. These experiences may inspire lifelong careers working in public health settings in the developing world. Or, if students chose to return and practice public health in the United States, their experiences abroad will better equip them to deal with similar issues here at home.

What are the goals of your family’s foundation?

Our foundation helps people who are not just needy and hungry, but those who are confronted with such desperate circumstances that it’s a question of survival. The whole idea was that we would deal with those acute problems that threaten life itself, but that can be ameliorated with the right combination of resources and expertise.

What is your foundation’s approach to philanthropy?

We knew that we couldn’t just take boxes of food and dump them out on the ground. We wanted to fund programs that would take a scientific and academic approach to finding and addressing the root causes of the problem. We are fortunate to be located in Atlanta and to have such immediate access to several of the world’s premier public health organizations taking a similar approach, among them CDC and the CDC Foundation. We also realized that we couldn’t be the Gates Foundation, but we could fill an important niche. We’re minute and we’re remote but we’re able to make a meaningful contribution.

How do you feel about what the O.C. Hubert Charitable Trust has achieved?

We have a map with red, blue and yellow pins sticking in it that stretch all the way from Vietnam to Alaska. Each pin represents a student in this fellowship or one of our other programs. We say that these people get vectored out to where the circumstances are really challenging and contrary to existence. These people wade in out there and try to make a difference. These are the people that count. It gives me a sense of pride and accomplishment and a sense of gratitude for the people who are doing this important work. I’m proud to be a part of it.