British vets working to end rabies
New figures revealed by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control ahead of World Rabies Day (28 September) show that almost 60,000 people a year die from rabies, with 60 per cent of all rabies deaths in children under 15 years old.
The UK was declared rabies free over 90 years ago yet the viral infection, contracted when bitten by an infected animal, still persists in the developing world. This year’s World Rabies Day is focusing on the global elimination of the disease.
British Veterinary Association (BVA) President, Sean Wensley, said:
“Rabies is a terrible disease that takes its greatest toll on the poor and vulnerable in developing countries, who, if bitten, cannot afford or do not have access to the post-exposure treatment that can prevent the disease developing. We know that controlling the disease reservoir in dogs is key to reducing infections in the human population. Global elimination of rabies is a possibility.
“The work of British vets assisting with rabies eradication overseas is a clear example of why a One Health agenda matters and why animal and human health is inextricably linked. From veterinary virologists researching this killer disease in UK laboratories to our colleagues working on the frontline vaccination projects overseas, the veterinary and medical professions are working towards eradicating rabies together.”
British vets are involved in international rabies control and elimination programmes all over the world:
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
As an OIE Reference Laboratory and World Health Organization (WHO) collaborating centre for rabies, the work of the UK’s Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is responsible for animal, plant and bee health. APHA’s responsibilities include identifying and controlling endemic and exotic diseases and pests in animals, surveillance of new and emerging pests and diseases, scientific research in areas such as bacterial, viral, prion and parasitic diseases and vaccines, and food safety; and crucially, acting as an international reference laboratory for many animal diseases including rabies.
The OIE Reference Laboratory for rabies at APHA, led by Professor Tony Fooks, has a remit to undertake surveillance and formulate strategies to control rabies in rabies-endemic countries thereby reducing the possibility of rabies reoccurring in Europe and in particular preventing a re-introduction of rabies to the UK. Under the OIE twinning programme, APHA supported scientific progression of The Changchun Veterinary Research Institute (P. R. China) leading to CVRI being designated as an OIE Reference Laboratory for rabies.
Veterinary researchers at the UK’s APHA are involved in this ongoing global fight against rabies through their scientific and technical expertise. Recent projects in Tajikistan and Azerbaijan, which are funded by the UK's Global Partnership Programme, training scientists in rabies diagnosis and spearheading a public awareness campaign, highlight the importance and effectiveness of international cooperation. APHA has been awarded funding for a similar project in Georgia to develop some regional integration.
Professor Fooks said: “A key feature of APHA is to maintain its position as a leading global scientific research organisation with fundamental studies on rabies. Our research activities form a key capability in how rabies virus crosses the species barrier and ultimately will increase our understanding of how pathogens emerge.’’
Jaipur, India
The Help in Suffering street dog and rabies control programme continues to keep rabies and the street dog population under control in Jaipur.
Jack Reece, a British vet who has worked at Help in Suffering since 1999, commented: “We are passionate about monitoring the effects of the work and our most recent survey indicates 78% of the bitches in the city have been spayed and vaccinated, and that vaccination coverage is 75%, well above the rabies control threshold. Animal Birth Control (ABC) work seems to address successfully two major public health problems, human rabies transmission and human dog bite injuries and as a result of this we are using our 20 years of experience and data we to help the Public Health Foundation of India in their attempts to understand street dogs, rabies and its control in India.”
Goa, India
The vaccination of dogs is being rolled out on a large scale in Goa via the Worldwide Veterinary Services Mission Rabies’ project, which aims to vaccinate at least 70% of Goa’s dogs in 25 days. The project is led by British vet Luke Gamble, the founder and chief executive of Worldwide Veterinary Service and Mission Rabies.
Mr Gamble said: “Thanks to the amazing support, energy and determination of our volunteers, most of whom are from the UK, Mission Rabies has vaccinated over 300,000 community dogs in some of the world’s worst rabies hotspots in just 18 months. We’ve also reached over 250,000 children through our rabies education programme. All of our amazing projects would be totally impossible without the fantastic backing of the brilliant UK veterinary profession.”
Tanzania
Vets and researchers from the University of Glasgow – including Tiziana Lembo, Katie Hampson, Sarah Cleaveland, Zac Mtema, Kennedy Lushasi and Maganga Sambo - have been closely involved in the Bill and Melinda Gates rabies elimination project in Tanzania. These vets have provided technical support for the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development teams in mass dog vaccination campaigns in the south-east of Tanzania, with rabies successfully controlled in many areas, and evidence showing that rabies has now been completely eliminated from Pemba Island, just off the Tanzania coast.
In the north of Tanzania, the expertise of teams from several different rabies programmes is now being brought together, with vets from Mission Rabies – such as Luke Gamble, Kate Shervell and Andy Gibson - linking up with Tanzanian Ministries, local NGOs and Afya Serengeti to establish and coordinate new rabies control activities in the northern Arusha region.
Kenya
The Kenyan national plan for rabies control and elimination has now been launched, with mass dog vaccination campaigns initiated in several districts as part of the early stages of a strategy that aims to achieve freedom from rabies in Kenya by 2030. The programme is being supported by World Animal Protection with technical inputs provided by UK vets, Sarah Cleaveland and Felix Lankester, building on experiences from the on-going programme of mass dog vaccination in the Serengeti, Tanzania.
Pan-African Network for Rabies Control and Elimination
With increasing awareness of the feasibility of global canine elimination and insights from several existing elimination demonstration projects in Kwa Zulu Natal, Chad and Tanzania, global efforts are focussing on support for national rabies programmes and for regional scale-up through initiatives by the World Health Organisation (WHO) vaccine banks and provision of technical support packages coordinated through the Pan-African Network for Rabies Control and Elimination, which is spearheaded by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control.
Over the past year, several key publications by UK vets and researchers have contributed important information, expertise and insight on the global impact of rabies and the feasibility for rabies elimination.
