Accessed on 07.03.2023
A – Z of Rabies – A guide to the world´s deadliest disease
Mission Rabies
A concept (leaflet)
This document outlines the concept of a stimulus package for rabies elimination. The aim of a stimulus package is to catalyse rabies control by starting community projects,
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building local capacity and using success to generate momentum for growth. Governments could apply for a package, which would provide technical and material support to run small, successful rabies control projects. These in turn build evidence for the feasibility of larger scale elimination, generate enthusiasm foaction and promote investment for sustainability and up scaling. Data reporting in return for the packages would allow the documentation of successes and lessons learnt to benefit global elimination efforts more broadly.
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Each year, rabies causes approximately 59,000 deaths worldwide. Despite evidence that control of dog rabies through animal vaccination programs and elimination of stray dogs can reduce the incidence
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of human rabies, dog rabies remains common in many countries and exposure to rabid dogs is still the cause of over 90% of human exposures to rabies and of 99% of human rabies deaths worldwide. CDC experts in the Poxvirus and Rabies Branch conduct an annual assessment of individual countries’ rabies status worldwide which considers the presence of wildlife rabies, canine rabies variant (dog rabies), and non-rabies lyssaviruses.
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Rabies has an enormous impact on both agriculture and conservation biology, but its greatest burden is undeniably on public health. As such, routine methods for rapid risk assessment after human exposures to
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rabies as well as applications for laboratory-based surveillance, production of biologicals and management of this infectious disease are critical. Given its mandate to improve human health and control disease among its Member States, WHO has led the production of this fifth edition of Laboratory techniques in rabies.
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Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease most often transmitted to people via bites from infected dogs. This course provides a general introduction to rabies, and the One Health approach currently taken t
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o prevent it. It consists of seven video-lectures, demonstration videos, and lessons learnt from people who work at the frontline of rabies elimination programmes around the world. It targets both a general audience and those who would like to learn more about rabies and the pathway to eliminating this disease – like prospective and current public health and animal health practitioners in rabies endemic countries.
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In the Philippines, the month of March is celebrated as Rabies Awareness Month (RAM) every year as decreed by presidential executive order. A massive information campaign around rabies prevention/co
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ntrol is conducted, along with a free, mass dog vaccination campaign throughout the entire country.
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These new guidelines should help medical and paramedical professionals to provide the state of art rabies prophylaxis to all animal bite victims in the government hospitals and prevent human rabies
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deaths in the state. The medical officers whenever in doubt are encouraged to contact the state nodal officer and seek further clarifications regarding PEP.
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The new WHO recommendations for rabies immunization supersede the 2010 WHO position
on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for rabies. These updated
recommendations
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are based on new evidence and directed by public health needs that are cost-,
dose- and time-sparing, while assuring safety and clinical effectiveness. In addition, new guidance on
prudent use of rabies immunoglobulins (RIG) is provided.
The following sections summarize the main points of the updated WHO position as endorsed by the
Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization (SAGE) at its meeting in October 20171. The full
version of the WHO position on rabies vaccines and immunoglobulins will be published in the Weekly
Epidemiological Record2 in April 2018.
Rabies prevention involves two main strategies: (i) dog vaccination to interrupt virus transmission to
humans; and (ii) human vaccination as a series of vaccine administrations before or after an exposure.
Currently, rabies vaccines made from inactivated cell cultures are extremely well tolerated and have no
contraindications.
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2018 has been one of the most successful years ever for Mission Rabies. We are on
the cusp of having almost vaccinated one million dogs in global rabies hotspots,
we’ve educated over two million
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children and we’re seeing a dramatic reduction in
both human and canine rabies in all our flagship project sites!! The app is now
developing in conjunction with CDC in the US, our work is being published at an
unprecedented rate and we’re still only four years old!
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Rabies is a zoonotic, vaccine-preventable viral disease that causes damage to the brain and spinal
cord in infected animals and humans. A zoonotic disease is a disease that can be transmitted
between animals and humans.
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Rabies is nearly 100% fatal once symptoms appear.
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Guide; revised 15 June 2010
Classical rabies caused by RABV occurs worldwide besides some isolated countries and Western Europe that are regarded rabies free. Carnivores, especially of the canidae family represent the principa
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l reservoir species and are responsible for the maintenance of the infectious cycle and hence for the presence of the disease (see Epidemiology of rabies). While wildlife rabies maintained by different reservoirs hosts predominantly occurs in the Northern hemisphere, canine rabies is by far more important for public health in the developing world.
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WHO strongly recommends discontinuation of the nerve tissue vaccine, and replacement with modern concentrated and purified cell culture derived vaccines (CCDV) and embryonated eggbased rabies vaccines.
These vaccines must comply with WHO criteria f
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or potency and innocuity following satisfactory assessment in humans during well-designed field trials
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Rabies is a fatal viral disease, but is preventable in humans. The rabies virus is transmitted to humans through virus-laden saliva from a rabid animal, mostly dogs. The virus is shed in the saliva
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of an infected animal and can be introduced into another body through bites, scratches and any other wounds that transect the skin. Contact of the infected saliva with mucous membranes is also thought to be a possible route of infection, whereas contact of infected saliva with intact skin is not considered an exposure. Rabies is preventable through pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for individuals at high and continual risk, and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).
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Overview
The aim of this guide is to support national immunization programme managers and others responsible for implementing human rabies vaccine programmes to:
inform policy discussions and operational planning for introducing or expanding
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rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) into a national immunization programme (e.g. through the national immunization programme, or other programmes); and
highlight considerations specific to rabies PEP for integration into existing systems, including for implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.
While the guide is mainly intended for programme managers and focuses on human vaccination, complementary animal health measures are highlighted where relevant given the zoonotic nature of rabies.
The guide was developed collaboratively with input from technical experts in rabies and immunization, vaccines and biologicals.
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Rabies is an infectious viral disease that is almost always fatal once clinical symptoms appear.
In most cases, the disease is transmitted to humans by the bite of a rabid dog, but infection can also spread through scratches or via saliva.
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Rabies kills one person every 9 minutes and children aged 5–14 years are frequent victims.
Yet rabies is 100% vaccine preventable. Vaccinating dogs is the most cost-effective way to prevent rabies in people.
Education about dog behaviour, immediate care measures after a bite, responsible dog ownership and bite prevention are essential components of rabies elimination.
WHO and partners aim to achieve zero human rabies deaths by 2030.
The time to act is now.
More information: http://www.who.int/rabies/en/
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As of 14 December 2021, a total of 19 laboratory-confirmed human rabies cases has been reported in South Africa for 2021. The cases are from Eastern Cape, KwaZuluNatal and Limpopo provinces. In addition, four probable
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rabies cases were reported from KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces. A probable case of rabies is defined as a person who has had a history of contact with a suspected or confirmed rabid animal and has developed an acute encephalitis with hyperactivity and paralytic signs and symptoms that progressed and resulted in death, usually by cardiac or respiratory failure, typically within ten days.
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Website last accessed on 14.04.2023
The GARC Education Platform (GEP) is a set of free online courses developed to improve the skills and knowledge of people working in rabies awareness and prevention. Through the GEP, we aim to empower people t
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o become rabies advocates, focal persons, and experts across the globe. After completing each course, you become a certified graduate and receive a unique certificate of completion!
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