In 2018, an outbreak of human rabies caused by the hematophagous bat Desmodus rotundus hit the Brazilian Amazon Basin community of Melgaço, Brazil, resulting in the death of 10 people, 9 of them children. The incidence of rabies has been on the rise among populations in conditions of vulnerability in this ecosystem due to human expansion into sylvatic environments and limited access to public health services. To address this issue, in September 2019, a collaborative effort from national, local, and international institutions promoted and executed a pilot for pre-exposure prophylaxis of a population in high-risk areas for hematophagous bat-mediated rabies. This measure is usually only implemented in response to outbreaks. The pilot was conducted in Portel, in a nearby location to the previous outbreak, with the use of fluvial transportation, and 2987 individuals in 411 dwellings were successfully vaccinated. It established a methodology for pre-exposure prophylaxis for populations in conditions of vulnerability, identifying logistics and costs, as well as characterizing the target riverine population regarding risk factors associated with bites by hematophagous bats. This approach offers a proactive measure to prevent future outbreaks and provides valuable insights into how to address the issue of rabies in remote and difficult-to-reach areas.

Molecules from animals or plant species have been investigated with the aim of treating diseases of epidemiological importance, such as rabies, which is a viral, acute, and infectious disease with approximately 100% lethality. Rabies has been one of the main causes of death in humans concerning infectious diseases. This work investigated the action and preliminary mechanisms of the alkaloid bufotenine in an in vivo model with the rabies virus. A wild-type virus was titrated and injected into mice for the determination of DL50 in the presence or absence of bufotenine. The results reveal that bufotenine has possible action in modulating the immune response of the studied host, suggesting interference in delaying symptom manifestation. Regarding the histological analysis of the CNS of the animals, bufotenine possibly prevented the presence of mononuclear cell inflammatory infiltrate in the meninx’s region compared to the positive control and possibly contributed to reducing neuronal degeneration. The use of the bufotenine extracted from the seed of white angico, a plant representative of Brazilian flora, contributed to antiviral activity with effects on the immunological aspects of the host infected by the rabies virus.