Outcomes of a Short-Duration, Large-Scale Canine Rabies Vaccination Campaign in Central Cambodia.

Background: WHO and WOAH advocate for annual high-coverage canine rabies vaccination campaigns as the most sustainable approach to eliminate the risk of dog rabies transmission to humans. It is estimated that Cambodia has one of the highest human rabies deaths per capita of any country (5.8 human deaths per 100,000 people), highlighting the urgent need to implement an effective canine rabies vaccination program.

Dog ecology and rabies knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) in the Northern Communal Areas of Namibia.

In 2021, a comprehensive dog demographic questionnaire combined with a KAP survey were conducted in the northern communal areas (NCAs) of Namibia with the aim of gaining a better understanding of dog populations, owner behaviour, and knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) relating to rabies. The survey of 3,726 households across the eight regions of the NCAs provided insights that will inform interventions in order to improve human rabies prevention and Namibia's dog rabies control strategy. The results showed a relatively low average human/dog ratio (HDR) of 5.

Corrigendum: Electronic application for rabies management improves surveillance, data quality, and investigator experience in Haiti.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.

Oral rabies vaccination of dogs-Experiences from a field trial in Namibia.

Dog-mediated rabies is responsible for tens of thousands of human deaths annually, and in resource-constrained settings, vaccinating dogs to control the disease at source remains challenging. Currently, rabies elimination efforts rely on mass dog vaccination by the parenteral route. To increase the herd immunity, free-roaming and stray dogs need to be specifically addressed in the vaccination campaigns, with oral rabies vaccination (ORV) of dogs being a possible solution.

Ranging patterns and factors associated with movement in free-roaming domestic dogs in urban Malawi.

Rabies is a neglected zoonotic disease that causes around 59,000 deaths per year globally. In Africa, rabies virus is mostly maintained in populations of free-roaming domestic dogs (FRDD) that are predominantly owned. Characterizing the roaming behavior of FRDD can provide relevant information to understand disease spread and inform prevention and control interventions.

Every Dog Has Its Data: Evaluation of a Technology-Aided Canine Rabies Vaccination Campaign to Implement a Microplanning Approach.

Robust dog vaccination coverage is the primary way to eliminate canine rabies. Haiti conducts annual canine mass vaccination campaigns, but still has the most human deaths in the Latin American and Caribbean region. We conducted an evaluation of dog vaccination methods in Haiti to determine if more intensive, data-driven vaccination methods, using smartphones for data reporting and geo-communication, could increase vaccination coverage to a level capable of disrupting rabies virus transmission.

Using data-driven approaches to improve delivery of animal health care interventions for public health.

Rabies kills ∼60,000 people per year. Annual vaccination of at least 70% of dogs has been shown to eliminate rabies in both human and canine populations. However, delivery of large-scale mass dog vaccination campaigns remains a challenge in many rabies-endemic countries.

Factors associated with mobile phone ownership and potential use for rabies vaccination campaigns in southern Malawi.

Background: Rabies is a fatal but preventable viral disease, which causes an estimated 59 000 human deaths globally every year. The vast majority of human rabies cases are attributable to bites from infected domestic dogs and consequently control of rabies in the dog population through mass vaccination campaigns is considered the most effective method of eliminating the disease. Achieving the WHO target of 70% vaccination coverage has proven challenging in low-resource settings such as Sub Saharan Africa, and lack of public awareness about rabies vaccination campaigns is a major barrier to their success.

Reviewing Solutions of Scale for Canine Rabies Elimination in India.

Canine rabies elimination can be achieved through mass vaccination of the dog population, as advocated by the WHO, OIE and FAO under the 'United Against Rabies' initiative. Many countries in which canine rabies is endemic are exploring methods to access dogs for vaccination, campaign structures and approaches to resource mobilization. Reviewing aspects that fostered success in rabies elimination campaigns elsewhere, as well as examples of largescale resource mobilization, such as that seen in the global initiative to eliminate poliomyelitis, may help to guide the planning of sustainable, scalable methods for mass dog vaccination.

Implementation of a mass canine rabies vaccination campaign in both rural and urban regions in southern Malawi.

Rabies is a devastating zoonotic disease causing nearly 60,000 deaths globally each year. The disease causes Malawi an economic loss of 13 million USD and kills almost 500 people annually. Domestic dogs are the main reservoir for rabies and vaccinating over 70% of the dog population is the most efficient method to reduce its incidence in both humans and canines.

Clostridium difficile shedding by healthy dogs in Nigeria and Malawi.

The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence and characteristics of Clostridium difficile shedding in owned dogs in Nigeria and Malawi. Clostridium difficile was isolated from 31/120 (26%) dogs in Nigeria and 11/92 (12%) dogs in Malawi (p = 0.012).

One million dog vaccinations recorded on mHealth innovation used to direct teams in numerous rabies control campaigns.

Background: Canine transmitted rabies kills an estimated 59,000 people annually, despite proven methods for elimination through mass dog vaccination. Challenges in directing and monitoring numerous remote vaccination teams across large geographic areas remain a significant barrier to the up-scaling of focal vaccination programmes to sub-national and national level. Smartphone technology (mHealth) is increasingly being used to enhance the coordination and efficiency of public health initiatives in developing countries, however examples of successful scaling beyond pilot implementation are rare.