Introduction

About World Rabies Day – September 28
Co-sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (ARC) since 2007, World Rabies Day (WRD) aims to raise awareness about human and canine rabies, promote ways of preventions and elimination of the disease.

About Rabies
Rabies is a zoonosis (a disease that is transmitted from animals to humans) that is caused by a virus. It is known to be present in more than 150 countries and territories of all continents except Antarctica. Rabies virus infects domestic and wild animals and is spread to people through close contact with infected animals’ saliva via bites or scratches. The main route of rabies transmission to humans is the bite of rabid dogs. Rabies is a vaccine-preventable disease.
The incubation period for rabies is typically 1 to 3 months. This however could vary from 1 week to a year. Initial symptoms of rabies are usually non-specific and suggest involvement of fever and often pain or unusual or unexplained tingling, pricking or burning sensation (paraesthesia) at the wound site. As the virus spreads through the central nervous system, progressive, fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord develops.

Source: World Health Organization

WRD Themes

2013	Understand It To Defeat It
2012	Together We Can Make Rabies History
2011	Rabies, Incurable But Preventable
2010	Stand United: End Rabies
2009	Rabies: A Neglected Public Health Menace
2008	Awareness Is The Best Defense Against Rabies
2007	Working Together To Make Rabies History

Source: Global Alliance for Rabies Control

Current stats

Rabies in China

◆Latest situation

About seven people have died from rabies in Beijing this year. According to the Beijing Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, nearly 90,000 people were vaccinated against rabies between January and July after being bitten by cats or dogs. An 83-year-old man from Fangshan district became the latest fatality, losing his battle to the disease this month after being bitten by a dog earlier this year.

◆Deficiency

Rabies deaths double, lack of effective vaccination to blame: experts
Mary Peng, director of the Beijing-based International Center for Veterinary Services, said dog vaccine coverage in the US is around 80 percent, but in China take-up is only 20 percent. "The Chinese government only permits licensed hospitals to import vaccine, which has proven effective in protecting dogs from rabies," Peng said.

◆Efforts

City sees dog vaccinations nearly triple
The number of dogs who have been vaccinated against rabies and other diseases tripled in the 13 months after the local government passed a series of regulations on keeping canines, local media reported.

Beijing proposes stringent animal regulations to prevent diseases
The Legal Affairs Office of Beijing Municipality in June resealed a new draft of the Animal Epidemic Prevention Regulation on its official website in order to solicit public opinions.
The draft tightens the regulation on mandatory vaccination of canines in order to prevent the transmission of animal epidemics that may adapt to humans. The regulation requests dogs that have been vaccinated against rabies and other diseases to wear immunity marks while outdoors to differentiate from those who might carry the rabies virus.

Rabies control

The fight against rabies shouldn’t be a fight against dogs.

Killing dogs is not the solution, as it does not stop the disease; mass dog vaccination is the only proven solution.

According to the WHO, the most cost-effective strategy for preventing rabies is by eliminating rabies in dogs through vaccination. The WSPA is promoting vaccination plans among governments to create a world where no dog is needlessly culled due to fear of rabies.

The benefits of vaccination include:
1.    Animal welfare: prevents cruelty
2.    Human health: protects the community
3.    Economics: saves money

Source: World Society for the Protection of Animals

In action

●Sri Lanka

WSPA funded a project in 2007 with the Blue Paw Trust (BPT), a veterinary service that cares for stray dogs and pets in low income areas, to end the inhumane killing of dogs in response to rabies and promote vaccinations. Through their efforts, the annual average of dog rabies cases reduced from around 37.5 percent in 2007 to 3.0 percent in 2012.

●Bali, Indonesia

WSPA worked with the provincial government and the Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA) in 2010 and supported a successful first round of mass dog vaccinations. This ultimately moved the government to favor mass vaccinations over extermination. During a six month period, 210,000 dogs were vaccinated, resulting in a 35 percent decrease in human rabies deaths and 76 percent decrease in canine rabies cases.

●Bangladesh

WSPA supported the government by training locals to prepare for vaccinations across the northern half of Bangladesh in 2012. In Cox’s Bazar, thousands of dogs have been protected and canine rabies cases significantly reduced. In 2012, 49,000 dogs were vaccinated during training exercises and now authorities possess the capabilities to implement mass dog vaccination throughout the northern half of Bangladesh.

●Latin America

The governments of Mexico, Brazil and Peru are promoting the success of their established mass dog vaccination programs.

●China

In 2012, World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) jointly signed a cooperation agreement with the China Animal Disease Control Centre (CADC) to deliver our Red Collar campaign  in China. This landmark agreement will introduce advanced rabies prevention and control technology to China, taking into consideration the local situation, to avoid the needless culling of dogs in the name of rabies.

●The Philippines

WSPA is working with the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) to vaccinate dogs in Manila in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Since 2012, the WSPA has helped vaccinate around 15,000 dogs in highly populated urban areas of Cainta, near Metro Manila.

●Zanzibar, Tanzania

WSPA will work with local authorities to conduct surveys of canine populations on the island, as well as help stop the spread of rabies through vaccinating at least 70 percent of dogs. More than 6000 dogs have been vaccinated this year alone.

Source: World Society for the Protection of Animals

Related reports

Rabies scare

Animal-originated diseases pose grave threats to humans, experts warn

Dog bites call for solid law enforcement

Uproar over dog meat calls tradition into question

Infectious diseases kill 17,315 in China in 2012

Two die from rabies

Taiwan reports 39 cases of animal infection with rabies

News Vocab

疫苗  yìmiáo

“疫” n. epidemic disease; pestilence（Source: 《新世纪汉英大词典》）

“苗” n. vaccine（Source: 《新世纪汉英大词典》）

“疫苗” n. vaccine（Source: 《新世纪汉英大词典》）

Example:
恐狂症的流行显然是造成中国目前狂犬病疫苗大量滥用的重要原因之一。 （Source: 《南方周末》）
Widespread fear of rabies is one of the most important reasons for the current overuse of rabies vaccines in China.


Web editor: duliya@globaltimes.com.cn