Rabies elimination calls for a ‘One Health’ approach

Rabies is the paradigm of ‘One Health’ and elimination strategies — focused on mass dog vaccination, animal birth control and post exposure prophylaxis — should go hand in hand to achieve zero rabies by 2030, Katie Hampson, Professor of Disease Ecology and Public Health, University of Glasgow, said here.

She was delivering the keynote address at the national symposium on ‘Rabies and One Health: Towards Zero by 2030’, organised by the Kerala University of Health Sciences, School of Public Health, here on Friday.

However, the process has to be sustained and a reactionary approach would not help. Latin American nations which have invested heavily in mass dog vaccination have reported zero rabies deaths in the last 20 years. But in Asia, despite the high investment in post exposure prophylaxis, human rabies continue to claim lives, Dr. Hampson pointed out.

For every human rabies death, over 300 dog rabies cases are reported in Kerala. The Integrated Bite Case Management Strategy is the One Health approach to improved rabies surveillance but One Health capabilities need building and all stakeholders should work together. One Health is increasingly recognised but rarely operationalised, she pointed out.

Global elimination of canine rabies is possible but long-term planning, commitment and sustainable strategies are the key and this needs time to roll out as well as efforts to build skills and experience, Dr. Hampson said.

The Vice Chancellor of KUHS, Mohanan Kunnumal, inaugurated the symposium, which was attended by experts from across the country.

Martha Luka, PhD scholar from the University of Glasgow, spoke on the cost effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis. Reeta S. Mani, Professor of Neurovirology, NIMHANS; Manoj V. Murhekar, director, ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology; Julie Corfmat, director of Animal Welfare, Mission Rabies India; Zinia T. Nuju, Additional Professor of Community Medicine; R. Sharada, Professor, KVAFSU Bengaluru; and S. Aparna, State Institute of Animal Diseases, led the workshop.