Rabies on the Last Frontier: A Phylogeographical Look at Red (Vulpus vulpus) and Arctic (Vulpus lagopus) Fox with Respect to Mitochondrial DNA and the Spatial Diffusion of Rabies

Abstract

Vulpus vulpus and Vulpus lagopus are terrestrial animals that live in Alaska. They are also common carriers of the rabies virus. It has been determined that there are three different clades of rabies in Alaska being vectored by these two species of fox, but it is not clear why there are no endemic rabies in the Interior. We are interested in the migration patterns of Vulpus vulpus and Vulpus lagopus, the spread and maintenance of the rabies virus as a function of climate warming. We hypothesize that there is some element, whether biological or geographical, that restricts the virus from spreading into the interior and maintaining itself as much as it does in the coastal regions of Alaska. This research provides a model for determining how the virus spreads under retreating Arctic conditions, as the globe warms.