(1)National Institute for Virology, Sandringham, South Africa. The first confirmed outbreak of rabies in Africa, believed to have followed the importation of an infected dog from England in 1892, occurred in the eastern Cape Province of South Africa, and was brought under control in 1894.An unconfirmed epidemic of rabies in dogs occurred in western Zambia in 1901.By the following year the disease had apparently spread along a major trade route, to cause an outbreak in Zimbabwe which engulfed most of the country before being eradicated in 1913.n unconfirmed epidemic of rabies in dogs occurred in western Zambia in 1901. By the following year the disease had apparently spread along a major trade route, to cause an outbreak in Zimbabwe which engulfed most of the country before being eradicated in 1913.