3/16/22, 6:57 AM CDC - Rabies around the World - Rabies

Rabies

Rabies around the World

Each year, rabies causes approximately 59,000 deaths worldwide. Despite
evidence that control of dog rabies through animal vaccination programs and
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elimination of stray dogs can reduce the incidence of human rabies, dog rabies
While rabies is a 100% preventable
remains common in many countries and exposure to rabid dogs is still the cause
disease, thousands of people die
of over 90% of human exposures to rabies and of 99% of human rabies deaths
from the disease around the world
worldwide. CDC experts in the Poxvirus and Rabies Branch conduct an annual
each year. CDC provides
assessment of individual countries’ rabies status worldwide which considers the
assistance to many countries
presence of wildlife rabies, canine rabies variant (dog rabies), and non-rabies
affected by rabies to help set up
lyssaviruses.
programs to control, track and
prevent this deadly disease.
Because vaccines to prevent human rabies have been available for more than 100
https://youtu.be/WhzXT7dB2rM
years, most deaths from rabies occur in countries with inadequate public health

resources and limited access to preventive treatment. These countries also have
few diagnostic facilities and almost no rabies surveillance.

It is difficult, however, to estimate the total global burden of rabies by using only
human mortality data. Rabies is not, in the natural sense, actually a disease of
humans. Rather, it is a disease found in wild and domestic animals that can cause
cases in humans. Therefore, a more accurate projection of the impact of rabies
should include an estimate of the impact on animal populations – particularly
domestic animals – and the expense involved in preventing transmission of rabies
from animals to humans.

While effective, the cost of animal vaccination programs and programs to

eliminate stray dogs often prohibits their full implementation in much of the
developing world. In even the most prosperous countries, the cost of an effective
dog rabies control program is a drain on public health resources. For example, the
estimated annual expenditure for rabies prevention in the United States is over
US$300 million, most of which is spent on dog vaccinations.

Scientists have shown that once 70% of dogs are vaccinated, rabies can be
successfully controlled in an area and human deaths can be prevented. However,
even once a sufficient level of dog vaccination is reached, rabies control efforts
must remain constant and robust. An annual turnover of approximately 25% in
the dog population necessitates revaccination of millions of animals each year,
and reintroduction of rabies through transport of infected animals from outside a
controlled area is always a possibility should control programs lapse.
Page last reviewed: July 29, 2020

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