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Rabies elimination: protecting vulnerable communities through their dogs

Thursday, 19th of January 2017

The Lancet Global Health, Volume 5, No. 2, e141, February 2017

Correspondence

Rabies elimination: protecting vulnerable communities through their dogs

Giulia Savioli

Elseviers open access license policy

© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Bernadette Abela-Ridder and colleagues (November, 2016)1x1Abela-Ridder, B, Knopf, L, Martin, S, Taylor, L, Torres, G, and De Balogh, K. 2016: the beginning of the end of rabies?. Lancet Glob Health. 2016; 4: e780–e781

Summary | Full Text | Full Text PDF | PubMedSee all References1 describe the commendable joint efforts of WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health, and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control to control rabies on a global level, including their endorsement of a global framework to eliminate human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030. Domestic dogs are the main reservoir of infection in regions of Africa and Asia in which human deaths from rabies are highest.2x2Department for Environment and Food and Rural Affairs. Rabies disease control strategy. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69523/pb13585-rabies-control-strategy-110630.pdf; 2011. ((accessed Oct 16, 2016).)

See all References2 As Abela-Ridder and colleagues reinforce, preventing the transmission of rabies in canine populations is crucial. Additionally, surveillance and monitoring of rabies incidence within dog populations will become increasingly important.

The global health communitys focus for gauging the threat of rabies should not only include the tragic outcome of human deaths, but also the origin of the problem: unvaccinated canine populations in marginalised communities without access to veterinary care. Most free-roaming dogs in rabies-endemic areas are not feral, and belong to a household,3x3Cleaveland, S and Dye, C. Maintenance of a microparasite infecting several host species: rabies in the Serengeti. Parasitology. 1995; 111: S33–S47

Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (89)See all References3 forming an integral part of human communities as working animals and pets. Control and epidemic preparedness requires ongoing awareness of rabies in dogs, as sustainable elimination of human rabies cannot be achieved without elimination of the disease in the worlds domestic dogs. Together with mass vaccination of domestic dogs, goals and targets for the elimination of dog rabies must be set, alongside the newly endorsed goal of eradicating human dog-mediated rabies by 2030.

I declare no competing interests

References

1Abela-Ridder, B, Knopf, L, Martin, S, Taylor, L, Torres, G, and De Balogh, K. 2016: the beginning of the end of rabies?. Lancet Glob Health. 2016; 4: e780–e781

2Department for Environment and Food and Rural Affairs. Rabies disease control strategy. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69523/pb13585-rabies-control-strategy-110630.pdf; 2011. ((accessed Oct 16, 2016).)

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3Cleaveland, S and Dye, C. Maintenance of a microparasite infecting several host species: rabies in the Serengeti. Parasitology. 1995; 111: S33–S47