Displaying items by tag: World Rabies Day

Rabies is a disease that is almost always fatal, killing 59,000 people and countless animals per yearⁱ. However, rabies is also a disease which is entirely preventable with modern vaccines. Despite this, rabies continues to disproportionally affect marginalized and impoverished communities, with 95% of rabies deaths occurring in Asia and Africa. Additionally, 99% of human fatalities are the result of infection from rabid dogs. This unfortunate disease vector leads to millions of animals being killed, often inhumanely, in a futile effort to prevent future infections.

Rabies has been around for over 4,000 years, and has one of the highest fatality rates of any disease – it is almost always fatal. Nowadays, it is entirely preventable with modern vaccines and, by rights, it should be consigned to the history books. However, rabies is still at large and causing terrible suffering, mostly in marginalised and impoverished communities.