Rabic infection currently determines the epidemic and epizootic state in many countries. In this study, we revealed the value of red fox (Vulpes vulpes Linnaeus, 1758) as a carrier of rabies in the forest zone. Altogether, the research was conducted in 22 districts and the city of Saransk during the period from 2009 to 2018. The work uses a comprehensive epizootological analysis, including methods of modern diagnostics, veterinary and sanitary statistics, epizootological examination , as well as other methods generally accepted in epizootology. When determining the boundaries of the risk of rabies virus in the Republic, we found that the main clusters of epizootic foci of infection are located on the territory of Bolsheignatovskiy, Ichalkovskiy, Chamzinskiy and Atyashevskiy districts. It was found that the expansion of the infection zone over the years on the territory of the Republic is associated with the dynamics of the main host of the pathogen-red fox. In our Republic, the population density of foxes varies from 1.1 to 1.6 individuals per 1000 ha. In some areas, it is twice the average. The highest population density was observed in 2010-1.6 individuals per 1000 ha. The same year, there was a large proportion (66 %) of infected foxes with rabies, compared to other animals. The first rise of diseases coincides with the period of fox rut (early spring) and the second-with the settlement of young animals (autumn-winter).
Boyarova E., Andreychev A., Kozlova I., Kuznetsov V. Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) as the main vector of animal’s rabies in the forest-steppe zone of Republic of Mordovia // Forestry Ideas. 2020. V. 26. № 2. P. 355–365.

Near complete rabies virus N gene sequences (1,110 nt) were determined for 82 isolates obtained from different regions of Russia between 2008 and 2016. These sequences were analyzed together with 108 representative GenBank sequences from 1977–2016 using the Bayesian coalescent approach. The timing of the major evolutionary events was estimated. Most of the isolates represented the steppe rabies virus group C, which was found over a vast geographic region from Central Russia to Mongolia and split into three groups (C0-C2) with discrete geographic prevalence. A single strain of the steppe rabies virus lineage was isolated in the far eastern part of Russia (Primorsky Krai), likely as a result of a recent anthropogenic introduction. For the first time the polar rabies virus group A2, previously reported in Alaska, was described in the northern part of European Russia and at the Franz Josef Land. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that all currently circulating rabies virus groups in the Russian Federation were introduced within the few last centuries, with most of the groups spreading in the 20th century. The dating of evolutionary events was highly concordant with the historical epidemiological data. Published: February 22, 2017https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0171855