Rabies is a fatal viral disease that kills people; especially in low-income countries. Typically rabies is transmitted to humans from bites by infected domestic dogs. Rabies infection is preventable in humans with timely post-exposure prophylaxis vaccinations. Another control measure is mass vaccination of domestic dogs. Unfortunately, in low-income areas, people and animals often have limited access to health care. Due to the inability to receive medical care victims often die at home which causes rabies infections to be under-reported.
Recently several researchers performed a study (Estimating the Global Burden of Endemic Canine Rabies) to estimate the public health and economic burden of rabies circulating in domestic dog populations. The researchers found that canine rabies kills approximately 59,000 people and causes an $8.6 billion USD economic loss each year.
Vaccinating dogs is the most effective way to reduce rabies infection and death in humans. However, in low-income areas the availability and affordability of preventative vaccinations remains a limiting factor. As a result, people in low-income areas are most at risk of contracting and dying from a rabies infection. The authors of the study recommended that collaborative investments by medical and veterinary sectors could reduce the unnecessary burden of rabies across the world. Mass dog vaccinations have the potential to eliminate rabies in the primary vector for human infection and reduce the need for expensive post-exposure prophylaxis vaccinations.
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| Functional relationships estimated between A) rabies incidence in domestic dogs and average biannual dog vaccination coverage and B) probability of receiving post-exposure prophylaxis and the Human Development Index. |
Reference: Hampson K, Coudeville L, Lembo T, Sambo M, Kieffer A, Attlan M, et al. (2015) Estimating the Global Burden of Endemic Canine Rabies. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 9(4): e0003709. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003709
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