Costs and effectiveness of alternative dog vaccination strategies to improve dog population coverage in rural and urban settings during a rabies outbreak.

Dog-rabies elimination programs have typically relied upon parenteral vaccination at central-point locations; however, dog-ownership practices, accessibility to hard-to-reach sub-populations, resource limitations, and logistics may impact a country's ability to reach the 70% coverage goal recommended by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and World Health Organization (WHO). Here we report the cost-effectiveness of different dog-vaccination strategies during a dog-rabies outbreak in urban and peri-urban sections of Croix-des-Bouquets commune of the West Department, Haiti, in 2016. Three strategies, mobile static point (MSP), mobile static point with capture-vaccinate-release (MSP + CVR), and door-to-door vaccination with oral vaccination (DDV + ORV), were applied at five randomly assigned sites and assessed for free-roaming dog vaccination coverage and total population coverage.

Rabies in the Caribbean: A Situational Analysis and Historic Review.

Rabies virus is the only Lyssavirus species found in the Americas. In discussions about rabies, Latin America and the Caribbean are often grouped together. Our study aimed to independently analyse the rabies situation in the Caribbean and examine changes in rabies spatiotemporal epidemiology.

Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation of a Novel Integrated Bite Case Management Program for the Control of Human Rabies, Haiti 2014-2015.

AbstractHaiti has the highest burden of rabies in the Western hemisphere, with 130 estimated annual deaths. We present the cost-effectiveness evaluation of an integrated bite case management program combining community bite investigations and passive animal rabies surveillance, using a governmental perspective. The Haiti Animal Rabies Surveillance Program (HARSP) was first implemented in three communes of the West Department, Haiti.

Retrospective Cohort Study to Assess the Risk of Rabies in Biting Dogs, 2013⁻2015, Republic of Haiti.

Background: In canine rabies endemic countries the World Health Organization recommends post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) be initiated immediately after exposure to an animal suspected to have rabies. Limited capacity in low and middle income countries to assess biting animals for rabies may result in the over prescription of rabies biologics. Few guidelines exist to determine the risk of whether a dog that has bitten someone is rabid.

Control of Dog Mediated Human Rabies in Haiti: No Time to Spare.

The American region has pledged to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies by 2015. As part of these efforts, we describe the findings of a desk and field mission review of Haiti's rabies situation by the end of 2013. While government officials recognize the importance of dog-mediated rabies control, and the national rabies plan adequately contemplates the basic capacities to that effect, regular and sufficient implementation, for example, of dog vaccination, is hampered by limited funding.