Dr. R.K. Bhardwaj & Dr. Himani Sharma
World Rabies day is observed on 28th September every year for awareness of people about rabies and enhance prevention and control measures. The day is commemorated on the death anniversary of Louis Pasteur, who first developed an effective Anti-rabies vaccine. It was first initiated by Global Alliance for Rabies (GARC) in collaboration with many international human and veterinary health organisations like the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in 2007 as an international campaign. The theme of 18th World Rabies Day 2024 is “Breaking Rabies Boundaries” underscoring the urgency to transcend limitations that are hindering our fight against this deadly disease. The chosen theme reflects the pressing need to move beyond the status quo, where rabies elimination remains elusive for many parts of the world, causing suffering and claiming both human and animal lives. “Breaking Rabies Boundaries” encapsulates a dual meaning, acknowledging not only the barriers within our control but also the transboundary nature of rabies itself. World Rabies Day aims to raise awareness about the impact of rabies on humans and animals, provide information and advice on how to prevent the disease in at-risk communities, and support advocacy for increased efforts in rabies control. It remains a significant health problem in many countries of the world. To achieve our goal of rabies elimination, we must break a spectrum of boundaries that currently inhibit our progress, including:
1) Breaking Disease Siloes
2) Lack of One Health Collaboration
3) Insufficient cooperation
4) Lack of innovation
5) Small-scale Programs
6) Disease Awareness
The spirit behind this theme encourages collaboration, partnership, and a joint approach towards rabies elimination or “Zero Deaths”, in line with the “Zero by 30: Global Strategic Plan for the elimination of dog-mediated human rabies deaths by 2030”. As we rally together to break these boundaries, World Rabies Day serves as a focal point for joining forces. From mass vaccination campaigns to educational events and policy advocacy, every effort counts. Zero by 30 is a collective goal that India has accepted to eliminate such a dangerous and fatal disease. Human is the dead end host of rabies it means once a person got affected, death is sure. Until 1998, local authorities in India kept the population of stray dogs in check by impounding and euthanizing unclaimed canines. This technique was superseded by an animal birth control policy, commonly known as the ABC Program, due to demand from animal rights advocates. Stray dogs are imprisoned, medically sterilized, and released back into the region where they were picked up under this programme.
Rabies is one of the Neglected tropical disease that afflict people of more than 150 nations and territories worldwide, especially those living in poverty with low- and middle-income nations in the tropics and subtropics, and impose a major economic burden on these countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Rabies is an acute and highly fatal viral encephalomyelitis which affects all warm blooded animals. It is caused by a number of viruses, but the Rabies Lyssavirus is the most significant in terms of public health, since it causes nearly all human and dog rabies infections. The origin of word is from Latin. Rabias or Sanskrit ??? (rabhasa). Kautilya’s Arthashastra (fourth century BC) describes how to create a variety of poison arrows. One recipe asks for combining different poisons with musk rat blood. “Anyone pierced with this arrow will be obliged to bite ten friends, who will in turn bite ten other people,” wrote Kautylia. The inference is that musk rats were a rabies vector in India.
Dogs are the source of the vast majority of human rabies deaths, contributing up to 99 per cent of all rabies transmissions to humans. Rabies in human develops in two form i.e Furious and Paralytic form. Early symptoms may include fever and tingling at the site of bite followed by violent movements, uncontrolled excitement, hydrophobia, paralysis, coma and death.
In case of dog bite or scratch starts first aid treatment with washing of wound with soap and water for 10-15 minutes and wound should be cleaned with 70 percent alcohol (commercial spirit) or Betadine (Povidone iodine). Post bite antirabies vaccination should be immediately started with Human rabies immunoglobins (HRIG) in case of Catergory-3 bites. Once symptoms appear, the result is virtually always death. The time period between contracting the disease and the start of symptoms is usually one to three months but can vary from less than one week to more than one year.
Rabies is a vaccine-preventable viral illness that affects more than 150 nations and territories worldwide. Low awareness of the need to seek health care after a dog bite claims the lives of more than 55,000 people each year, mostly in Asia and Africa. According to WHO, over 99 per cent of all human deaths caused by rabid dog bites happen in the developing world, with 95 per cent of deaths occurring in Africa and Asia. India is endemic for rabies, and accounts for 36 per cent of the world’s rabies deaths. India also accounts for 65 per cent of the deaths due to rabies in the South East Asia region. It is alarming that within Asia, India has reported to have the highest incidence of rabies globally.
Control of rabies in wild animals is also of great importance which can only be feasible by oral anti-rabies bait vaccines. Control of rabies in stray dogs by Animal birth control programme and oral vaccination can be effective procedures to control rabies. The battle to control rabies by brutally killing the stray dogs has not yielded results. Mass vaccination is the only effective solution and vaccinating 70 percent of a dog population in endemic areas creates a barrier of healthy immune dogs which prevent the disease from spreading. According to World organization on Animal Health (OIE), the cost of vaccinating dogs remains minimal compared to the actual cost of emergency post-exposure treatments for the people who have been bitten and only 10 percent of the cost of these treatments would be sufficient to considerably reduce or even eliminate canine rabies.
So, let us take oath on this day to vaccinate our pets on regular basis and adopt stray dogs while vaccinating them against Rabies and controlling their population in addition to educating the people about facts regarding rabies, only then only we can control this disease. Notification of rabies is also important to prevent its spread. Holding local or national events is a great way to share the message of rabies prevention, whatever the size of the audience.
Every time someone is educated about rabies there is the possibility of saving a life.
(The writer is Professor, Veterinary Medicine in SKUAST-Jammu.)
