Dog-mediated Rabies Research Articles

Epidemiological, humanistic and economic burden of dog-mediated rabies in India: a systematic review protocol.

Background: Rabies is a neglected zoonotic disease. It is transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal and dog bites are responsible for around 95% of human cases. The disease is almost always fatal after the onset of symptoms. It is an endemic and major public health problem in India with one-third of the global deaths reported from this country. Protocol: This systematic review aims to estimate the epidemiological, humanistic and economic burden of dog-mediated rabies in India. Initially the existence of controlled descriptors in MeSH terms (such as 'Epidemiology', 'Rabies', 'Cost', 'Dog bite', 'Quality of Life', 'India' etc), and their synonyms (key words) was identified in MEDLINE, and were later combined with Boolean operators 'AND' and 'OR' to develop a detailed search strategy. Two independent reviewers will screen the titles and abstracts and select the studies as per the inclusion criteria. The selected studies will be assessed for their quality and risk of bias. Data will be extracted using standardized data extraction tools and will be synthesized for analysis. Disagreements that arise between the reviewers will be resolved through discussion, or with a third reviewer. Discussion: This systematic review will be performed to critically examine relevant literature and report the epidemiological, humanistic and economic burden of dog-mediated rabies in Indian context. The findings will help in estimation of burden of the disease in India and expected to contribute in policy making and planning of the program and interventions in the country. Protocol registration: PROSPERO ID: CRD4202021326.

Rabies Prophylactic and Treatment Options: An In Vitro Study of siRNA- and Aptamer-Based Therapeutics.

If the goal of eliminating dog-mediated human rabies by 2030 is to be achieved, effective mass dog vaccination needs to be complemented by effective prophylaxis for individuals exposed to rabies. Aptamers and short-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) have been successful in therapeutics, but few studies have investigated their potential as rabies therapeutics. In this study, siRNAs and aptamers—using a novel selection method—were developed and tested against rabies virus (RABV) in a post-infection (p.i.) scenario. Multiple means of delivery were tested for siRNAs, including the use of Lipofectamine and conjugation with the developed aptamers. One siRNA (N53) resulted in an 80.13% reduction in viral RNA, while aptamer UPRET 2.03 demonstrated a 61.3% reduction when used alone at 2 h p.i. At 24 h p.i., chimera UPRET 2.03-N8 (aptamer-siRNA) resulted in a 36.5% inhibition of viral replication. To our knowledge, this is the first study using siRNAs or aptamers that (1) demonstrated significant inhibition of RABV using an aptamer, (2) tested Lipofectamine RNAi-Max as a means for delivery, and (3) produced significant RABV inhibition at 24 h p.i. This study serves as a proof-of-concept to potentially use aptamers and siRNAs as rabies immunoglobulin (RIG) replacements or therapeutic options for RABV and provides strong evidence towards their further investigation.

Epidemiological, humanistic and economic burden of dog-mediated rabies in India: a systematic review protocol

Background: Rabies is a neglected zoonotic disease. It is transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal and dog bites are responsible for around 95% of human cases. The disease is almost always fatal after the onset of symptoms. It is an endemic and major public health problem in India with one-third of the global deaths reported from this country. Protocol: This systematic review aims to estimate the epidemiological, humanistic and economic burden of dog-mediated rabies in India. Initially the existence of controlled descriptors in MeSH terms (such as 'Epidemiology', 'Rabies', 'Cost', 'Dog bite', 'Quality of Life', 'India' etc), and their synonyms (key words) was identified in MEDLINE, and were later combined with Boolean operators 'AND' and 'OR' to develop a detailed search strategy. Two independent reviewers will screen the titles and abstracts and select the studies as per the inclusion criteria. The selected studies will be assessed for their quality and risk of bias. Data will be extracted using standardized data extraction tools and will be synthesized for analysis. Disagreements that arise between the reviewers will be resolved through discussion, or with a third reviewer. Discussion: This systematic review will be performed to critically examine relevant literature and report the epidemiological, humanistic and economic burden of dog-mediated rabies in Indian context. The findings will help in estimation of burden of the disease in India and expected to contribute in policy making and planning of the program and interventions in the country. Protocol registration: PROSPERO ID: CRD4202021326

Findings from the initial Stepwise Approach to Rabies Elimination (SARE) Assessment in China, 2019.

In 2015, China and other member states of the United Nations adopted the goal of eliminating dog-mediated rabies by 2030. China has made substantial progress in reducing dog-mediated human rabies since peaking with more than 3,300 reported cases in 2007. To further improve coordination and planning, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in collaboration with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conducted a Stepwise Approach towards Rabies Elimination (SARE) assessment in March 2019. Assessment goals included outlining progress and identifying activities critical for eliminating dog-mediated rabies. Participants representing national, provincial and local human and animal health sectors in China used the SARE assessment tool to answer 115 questions about the current dog-mediated rabies control and prevention programs in China. The established surveillance system for human rabies cases and availability of post-exposure prophylaxis were identified as strengths. Low dog vaccination coverage and limited laboratory confirmation of rabid dogs were identified gaps, resulting in an overall score of 1.5 on a scale of 0 to 5. Participants outlined steps to increase cross-sectoral information sharing, improve surveillance for dog rabies, increase dog vaccination coverage, and increase laboratory capacity to diagnose rabies at the provincial level. All assessment participants committed to strengthening cross-sector collaboration using a One Health approach to achieve dog-mediated human rabies elimination by 2030.

Feasibility and Effectiveness Studies with Oral Vaccination of Free-Roaming Dogs against Rabies in Thailand.

(1) Background: Thailand has made significant progress in reducing the number of human and animal rabies cases. However, control and elimination of the last remaining pockets of dog-mediated rabies have shown to be burdensome, predominantly as a result of the large numbers of free-roaming dogs without an owner that cannot be restrained without special efforts and therefore remain unvaccinated. To reach these dogs, the feasibility, and benefits of oral rabies vaccination (ORV) as a complementary tool has been examined under field conditions. (2) Methods: ORV of dogs was tested in five study areas of four provinces in Thailand. In these areas, sites with free-roaming dogs were identified with the support of local municipal workers and dog caretakers. ORV teams visited each of five study areas and distributed rabies vaccine (SPBN GASGAS) in three bait formats that were offered to the dogs using a hand-out and retrieval model. The three bait types tested included: egg-flavored baits, egg-flavored baits pasted with commercially available cat liquid snack, and boiled-intestine baits. A dog offered a vaccine bait was considered vaccinated when the discarded sachet was perforated or if a dog chewed vaccine bait at least 5 times before it swallowed the bait, including the sachet. (3) Results: A total of 2444 free-roaming dogs considered inaccessible for parenteral vaccination were identified at 338 sites. As not all dogs were approachable, 79.0% were offered a bait; of these dogs, 91.6% accepted the bait and subsequently 83.0% were considered successfully vaccinated. (4) Conclusion: Overall, 65.6% of the free-roaming dogs at these sites were successfully vaccinated by the oral route. Such a significant increase of the vaccination coverage of the free-roaming dog population could interrupt the rabies transmission cycle and offers a unique opportunity to reach the goal to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies in Thailand by 2030.

Dog ownership practices and responsibilities for children's health in terms of rabies control and prevention in rural communities in Tanzania.

Interventions tackling zoonoses require an understanding of healthcare patterns related to both human and animal hosts. The control of dog-mediated rabies is a good example. Despite the availability of effective control measures, 59,000 people die of rabies every year worldwide. In Tanzania, children are most at risk, contributing ~40% of deaths. Mass dog vaccination can break the transmission cycle, but reaching the recommended 70% coverage is challenging where vaccination depends on willingness to vaccinate dogs. Awareness campaigns in communities often target children, but do not consider other key individuals in the prevention chain. Understanding factors related to dog ownership and household-level responsibility for dog vaccination and child health is critical to the design of vaccination strategies. We investigated who makes household decisions about dogs and on health care for children in rural Tanzania. In the Kilosa district, in-depth interviews with 10 key informants were conducted to inform analysis of data from a household survey of 799 households and a survey on Knowledge Attitudes and Practices of 417 households. The in-depth interviews were analysed using framework analysis. Descriptive analysis showed responsibilities for household decisions on dogs’ and children’s health. Multivariate analysis determined factors associated with the probability of dogs being owned and the number of dogs owned, as well as factors associated with the responsibility for child health. Dog ownership varied considerably between villages and even households. The number of dogs per household was associated with the size of a household and the presence of livestock. Children are not directly involved in the decision to vaccinate a dog, which is largely made by the father, while responsibility for seeking health care if a child is bitten lies with the mother. These novel results are relevant for the design and implementation of rabies interventions. Specifically, awareness campaigns should focus on decision-makers in households to improve rabies prevention practices and on the understanding of processes critical to the control of zoonoses more broadly.

Rabies in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and North Africa: Building evidence and delivering a regional approach to rabies elimination

The Middle East, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and North Africa Rabies Control Network (MERACON), is built upon the achievements of the Middle East and Eastern Europe Rabies Expert Bureau (MEEREB).MERACON aims to foster collaboration among Member States (MS) and develop shared regional objectives, building momentum towards dog-mediated rabies control and elimination. Here we assess the epidemiology of rabies and preparedness in twelve participating MS, using case and rabies capacity data for 2017, and compare our findings with previous published reports and a predictive burden model.Across MS, the number of reported cases of dog rabies per 100,000 dog population and the number of reported human deaths per 100,000 population as a result of dog-mediated rabies appeared weakly associated. Compared to 2014 there has been a decrease in the number of reported human cases in five of the twelve MS, three MS reported an increase, two MS continued to report zero cases, and the remaining two MS were not listed in the 2014 study and therefore no comparison could be drawn. Vaccination coverage in dogs has increased since 2014 in half (4/8) of the MS where data are available. Most importantly, it is evident that there is a need for improved data collection, sharing and reporting at both the national and international levels.With the formation of the MERACON network, MS will be able to align with international best practices, while also fostering international support with other MS and international organisations.

Modelling the factors affecting the probability for local rabies elimination by strategic control.

Dog rabies has been recognized from ancient times and remains widespread across the developing world with an estimated 59,000 people dying annually from the disease. In 2011 a tri-partite alliance consisting of the OIE, the WHO and the FAO committed to globally eliminating dog-mediated human rabies by 2030. Regardless of global support, the responsibility remains with local program managers to implement successful elimination programs. It is well known that vaccination programs have a high probability of successful elimination if they achieve a population-coverage of 70%. It is often quoted that reducing population turnover (typically through sterilizations) raises the probability for local elimination by maintaining herd immunity for longer. Besides this, other factors that affect rabies elimination are rarely mentioned. This paper investigates the probability for local elimination as it relates to immunity, fecundity, dog population size, infectivity (bite rates), in-migration of immune-naïve dogs, and the initial incidence. To achieve this, an individual-based, stochastic, transmission model was manipulated to create a dataset covering combinations of factors that may affect elimination. The results thereof were analysed using a logistic regression model with elimination as the dependent variable. Our results suggest that smaller dog populations, lower infectivity and lower incidence (such as when epidemics start with single introductions) strongly increased the probability for elimination at wide ranges of vaccination levels. Lower fecundity and lower in-migration had weak effects. We discuss the importance of these findings in terms of their impact and their practical application in the design of dog-mediated rabies control programs.

Cost-effectiveness of the national dog rabies prevention and control program in Mexico, 1990-2015.

BackgroundRabies is a viral zoonosis that imposes a substantial disease and economic burden in many developing countries. Dogs are the primary source of rabies transmission; eliminating dog rabies reduces the risk of exposure in humans significantly. Through mass annual dog rabies vaccination campaigns, the national program of rabies control in Mexico progressively reduced rabies cases in dogs and humans since 1990. In 2019, the World Health Organization validated Mexico for eliminating rabies as a public health problem. Using a governmental perspective, we retrospectively assessed the economic costs, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of the national program of rabies control in Mexico, 1990–2015.MethodologyCombining various data sources, including administrative records, national statistics, and scientific literature, we retrospectively compared the current scenario of annual dog vaccination campaigns and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) with a counterfactual scenario without an annual dog vaccination campaign but including PEP. The counterfactual scenario was estimated using a mathematical model of dog rabies transmission (RabiesEcon). We performed a thorough sensitivity analysis of the main results.Principal findingsResults suggest that in 1990 through 2015, the national dog rabies vaccination program in Mexico prevented about 13,000 human rabies deaths, at an incremental cost (MXN 2015) of $4,700 million (USD 300 million). We estimated an average cost of $360,000 (USD 23,000) per human rabies death averted, $6,500 (USD 410) per additional year-of-life, and $3,000 (USD 190) per dog rabies death averted. Results were robust to several counterfactual scenarios, including high and low rabies transmission scenarios and various assumptions about potential costs without mass dog rabies vaccination campaigns.ConclusionsAnnual dog rabies vaccination campaigns have eliminated the transmission of dog-to-dog rabies and dog-mediated human rabies deaths in Mexico. According to World Health Organization standards, our results show that the national program of rabies control in Mexico has been highly cost-effective.

Seroprevalence of rabies virus antibody for dogs and cats in Seoul during 2017–2019

Rabies is a zoonotic disease that is caused by rabies virus and transmitted only in mammals. Domestic dogs are the most common reservoir of the virus, which is associated with more than 99% human deaths caused by dog-mediated rabies in the world. Rabies is one of the most fatal diseases, but it is fully preventable in animals by vaccination. Serological test of rabies virus antibody for samples collected from dogs and cats in Seoul during 2017–2019 was carried out in this study. To investigate antibody seroprevalence of rabies virus for dogs and cats, 2,769 serum samples were taken from 2,408 dogs and 361 cats in various regions of Seoul during 2017–2019. Antibodies to rabies virus were detected by an indirect ELISA. Of 2,769 tested animal sera, 934 (33.7%) were positive; 886 (36.8%) of 2408 dogs and 48 (13.3%) of 361 cats. Of 990 companion animals, 547 (55.3%) was positive and 387 (21.8%) of 1779 stray animals was positive. These results indicate that antibody seroprevalence to rabies virus is still not enough to prevent rabies and rabies vaccination is required to enhance the antibody seroprevalence for rabies. To improve the situation, much public awareness and policy is needed to prevent the rabies. In addition, reducing stray animals and keeping companion animals from contact with wild animals are indispensable for the prevention of rabies.

Seroprevalence of rabies virus antibody for dogs and cats in Seoul during 2017–2019

Rabies is a zoonotic disease that is caused by rabies virus and transmitted only in mammals. Domestic dogs are the most common reservoir of the virus, which is associated with more than 99% human deaths caused by dog-mediated rabies in the world. Rabies is one of the most fatal diseases, but it is fully preventable in animals by vaccination. Serological test of rabies virus antibody for samples collected from dogs and cats in Seoul during 2017–2019 was carried out in this study. To investigate antibody seroprevalence of rabies virus for dogs and cats, 2,769 serum samples were taken from 2,408 dogs and 361 cats in various regions of Seoul during 2017– 2019. Antibodies to rabies virus were detected by an indirect ELISA. Of 2,769 tested animal sera, 934 (33.7%) were positive; 886 (36.8%) of 2408 dogs and 48 (13.3%) of 361 cats. Of 990 companion animals, 547 (55.3%) was positive and 387 (21.8%) of 1779 stray animals was positive. These results indicate that antibody seroprevalence to rabies virus is still not enough to prevent rabies and rabies vaccination is required to enhance the antibody seroprevalence for rabies. To improve the situation, much public awareness and policy is needed to prevent the rabies. In addition, reducing stray animals and keeping companion animals from contact with wild animals are indispensable for the prevention of rabies.

Multi-annual performance evaluation of laboratories in post-mortem diagnosis of animal rabies: Which techniques lead to the most reliable results in practice?

Rabies diagnosis proficiency tests on animal specimens using four techniques (FAT, RTCIT, conventional RT-PCR and real-time RT-PCR) were organised over 10 years (2009–2019). Seventy-three laboratories, of which 59% were from Europe, took part. As the panels were prepared with experimentally-infected samples, the error rate of laboratories on positive and negative samples was accurately estimated. Based on fitted values produced by mixed modelling including the variable “laboratory” as a random variable to take into account the longitudinal design of our dataset, the technique that provided the most concordant results was conventional RT-PCR (99.3%; 95% CI 99.0–99.6), closely followed by FAT (99.1%; 95% CI 98.7–99.4), real-time RT-PCR (98.7%; 95% CI 98.1–99.3) and then RTCIT (96.8%; 95% CI 95.8–97.7). We also found that conventional RT-PCR provided a better diagnostic sensitivity level (99.3% ±4.4%) than FAT (98.7% ±1.6%), real-time RT-PCR (97.9% ±0.8%) and RTCIT (95.3% ±5.1%). Regarding diagnostic specificity, RTCIT was the most specific technique (96.4% ±3.9%) followed closely by FAT (95.6% ±3.8%), real-time RT-PCR (95.0% ±1.8%) and conventional RT-PCR (92.9% ±0.5%). Due to multiple testing of the samples with different techniques, the overall diagnostic conclusion was also evaluated, and found to reach an inter-laboratory concordance level of 99.3%. The concordance for diagnostic sensitivity was 99.6% ±2.0% and for diagnostic specificity, 98.0% ±8.5%. Molecular biology techniques were, however, found to be less specific than expected. The potential reasons for such findings are discussed herein. The regular organisation of performance tests has contributed to an increase in the performance of participating laboratories over time, demonstrating the benefits of such testing. Maintaining a high-quality rabies diagnosis capability on a global scale is key to achieving the goal of eliminating dog-mediated human rabies deaths. The regular organisation of exercises on each continent using selected local strains to be tested according to the local epidemiological situation is one factor that could help increase reliable diagnosis worldwide. Rabies diagnosis capabilities could indeed be enhanced by providing adequate and sustainable proficiency testing on a large scale and in the long term

Epidemiological, humanistic and economic burden of dog-mediated rabies in India: a systematic review protocol.

Background: Rabies is a neglected zoonotic disease. It is transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal and dog bites are responsible for around 95% of human cases. The disease is almost fatal after the onset of symptoms. It is an endemic and major public health problem in India with one-third of the global deaths reported from this country. Protocol: This systematic review aims to estimate the epidemiological, humanistic and economic burden of dog-mediated rabies in India. Initially the existence of controlled descriptors in MeSH terms (such as 'Epidemiology', 'Rabies', 'Cost', 'Dog bite', 'Quality of Life', 'India' etc), and their synonyms (key words) was identified in MEDLINE, and were later combined with Boolean operators 'AND' and 'OR' to develop a detailed search strategy. Two independent reviewers will screen the titles and abstracts and select the studies as per the inclusion criteria. The selected studies will be assessed for their quality and risk of bias. Data will be extracted using standardized data extraction tools and will be synthesized for analysis. Disagreements that arise between the reviewers will be resolved through discussion, or with a third reviewer. Discussion: This systematic review will be performed to critically examine relevant literature and report the epidemiological, humanistic and economic burden of dog-mediated rabies in Indian context. The findings will help in estimation of burden of the disease in India and expected to contribute in policy making and planning of the program and interventions in the country. Protocol registration: PROSPERO ID: CRD4202021326.

Human rabies: prospects for elimination.

Almost half of all countries in the world are effectively free of human deaths from dog-mediated rabies. But the disease still affects people in low- and middle-income countries, especially the rural poor, and children. Successful regional elimination of human rabies is attributable to advances in significant and sustained investment in dog vaccination, post-exposure vaccination and surveillance, illustrated by productive efforts to reduce human rabies in Latin America over the last 35 years. Nonetheless, countries still facing endemic rabies face significant barriers to elimination. Using the 2017 Global Strategic Plan to end human rabies deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030 as a reference point and an organizing framework, we assess progress toward global rabies elimination by examining the characteristics of successful regional control efforts and barriers to elimination. Although substantive barriers exist for countries where rabies remains endemic, advances in knowledge, technology, institutions, and economics provide a basis for optimism.

Progress and Prospects of Dog-Mediated Rabies Elimination in China.

Progress and Prospects of Dog-Mediated Rabies Elimination in China.

Awareness Towards Rabies and Exposure Rate and Treatment of Dog-Bite Injuries Among Rural Residents - Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, 2021.

What is already known about this topic?Although fatal once clinical signs appear, rabies is preventable through three proven, effective interventions including mass dog vaccination, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and, though sometimes neglected, awareness of rabies.What is added by this report?The total awareness rate of rabies-related knowledge among rural residents was only 57.9% in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, one of the provincial-level administrative divisions (PLADs) with endemic rabies in China, and the exposure rate of dog-bite injuries was as high as 7.2% in the past year. In addition, 14.8% of bite victims failed to seek PEP service.What are the implications for public health practice?This study can provide evidence for the targeted prevention and control program of rabies in rural areas and help realize the international goals of eliminating dog-mediated rabies by 2030.

Assessing Impacting Factors of Dog Owners' Adoption of Dog Vaccination Against Rabies: A Cross-sectional Survey in Rural Areas - Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, 2021.

What is already known about this topic?Rabies is fatal while preventable. More than 99% of human rabies cases were caused by dog bites worldwide. Mass dog vaccination could interrupt dog-mediated rabies if achieving and maintaining a minimum coverage rate of 70%.What does this report contribute?The results of this study show that roughly 23.7% of households owned dogs in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China but only about 19.1% of these households reported having their dogs vaccinated. Possible positive factors were injury history of dog bites, awareness of the necessity, and policy help for the costs of dog vaccination, but negative factors were negative attitude and inaccessibility.What are the implications for public health practices?Much more effort should be made to improve dog vaccination coverage in rural areas in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. Well-designed free mass vaccination campaigns with more accessibility and awareness campaigns are important to improve coverage.

Rabies control in Liberia: Joint efforts towards zero by 30

Despite declaration as a national priority disease, dog rabies remains endemic in Liberia, with surveillance systems and disease control activities still developing. The objective of these initial efforts was to establish animal rabies diagnostics, foster collaboration between all rabies control stakeholders, and develop a short-term action plan with estimated costs for rabies control and elimination in Liberia. Four rabies diagnostic tests, the direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) test, the direct immunohistochemical test (dRIT), the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay and the rapid immunochromatographic diagnostic test (RIDT), were implemented at the Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL) in Monrovia between July 2017 and February 2018. Seven samples (n=7) out of eight suspected animals were confirmed positive for rabies lyssavirus, and molecular analyses revealed that all isolates belonged to the Africa 2 lineage, subgroup H. During a comprehensive in-country One Health rabies stakeholder meeting in 2018, a practical workplan, a short-term action plan and an accurately costed mass dog vaccination strategy were developed. Liberia is currently at stage 1.5/5 of the Stepwise Approach towards Rabies Elimination (SARE) tool, which corresponds with countries that are scaling up local-level interventions (e.g. dog vaccination campaigns) to the national level. Overall an estimated 5.3 – 8 million USD invested over 13 years is needed to eliminate rabies in Liberia by 2030. Liberia still has a long road to become free from dog-rabies. However, the dialogue between all relevant stakeholders took place, and disease surveillance considerably improved through implementing rabies diagnosis at the CVL. The joint efforts of diverse national and international stakeholders laid important foundations to achieve the goal of zero dog-mediated human rabies deaths by 2030.

Application of the GARC Data Logger-a custom-developed data collection device-to capture and monitor mass dog vaccination campaigns in Namibia.

Domestic dogs are responsible for 99% of all cases of human rabies and thus, mass dog vaccination has been demonstrated to be the most effective approach towards the elimination of dog-mediated human rabies. Namibia demonstrated the feasibility of this approach by applying government-led strategic rabies vaccination campaigns to reduce both human and dog rabies incidences in the Northern Communal Areas of Namibia since 2016. The lessons learnt using paper-based form for data capturing and management of mass dog vaccination campaign during the pilot and roll out phase of the project (2016–2018) led to the implementation of a simple and accurate data collection tool in the second phase (2019–2022) of the rabies elimination program. In this paper, we describe the implementation of such custom-developed vaccination tracking device, i.e. the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) Data Logger (GDL), and the integration of the collected data into a website-based rabies surveillance system (Rabies Epidemiological Bulletin—REB) during 2019 and 2020 campaigns. A total of 10,037 dogs and 520 cats were vaccinated during the 2019 campaign and 13,219 dogs and 1,044 cats during the 2020 campaign. The vaccination data were recorded with the GDL and visualized via REB. Subsequent GIS-analysis using gridded population data revealed a suboptimal vaccination coverage in the great majority of grid cells (82%) with a vaccination coverage below 50%. Spatial regression analysis identified the number of schools, estimated human density, and adult dog population were associated with the vaccination performance. However, there was an inverse correlation to human densities. Nonetheless, the use of the GDL improved data capturing and monitoring capacity of the campaign, enabling the Namibian government to improve strategies for the vaccination of at-risk areas towards achieving adequate vaccination coverage which would effectively break the transmission of rabies.

Role of Oral Rabies Vaccines in the Elimination of Dog-Mediated Human Rabies Deaths.

Domestic dogs are responsible for nearly all the »59,000 global human rabies deaths that occur annually. Numerous control measures have been successful at eliminating dog-mediated human rabies deaths in upper-income countries, including dog population management, parenteral dog vaccination programs, access to human rabies vaccines, and education programs for bite prevention and wound treatment. Implementing these techniques in resource-poor settings can be challenging; perhaps the greatest challenge is maintaining adequate herd immunity in free-roaming dog populations. Oral rabies vaccines have been a cornerstone in rabies virus elimination from wildlife populations; however, oral vaccines have never been effectively used to control dog-mediated rabies. Here, we convey the perspectives of the World Organisation for Animal Health Rabies Reference Laboratory Directors, the World Organisation for Animal Health expert committee on dog rabies control, and World Health Organization regarding the role of oral vaccines for dogs. We also issue recommendations for overcoming hesitations to expedited field use of appropriate oral vaccines.