Appolonia Adeyemi The World Veterinary Association (WVA) and the World Medical Association (WMA) have said the search for more preventive tools to tackle rabies is focused on the development and production of novel therapeutics to neutralise the infective virus in humans and animals. The WVA and the WMA, in a joint statement issued yesterday to mark this year’s World Rabies Day, disclosed that vaccinating 70 per cent of dogs could prevent the deaths of over 60,000 people who die from rabies yearly. Similarly, they have advocated that ensuring dog bite victims would be properly treated through wound washing and timely post-exposure treatment could help curb deaths from rabies. Rabies is a fatal but preventable viral disease. It can spread to people and pets if they are bitten or scratched by a rabid animal.
In the United States, rabies is mostly found in wild animals like bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes. Rabies kills at least 60,000 people annually. Most of these deaths occur in Africa and Asia and disproportionately more casualties are children. Most rabies deaths are caused by infection with the rabies virus transmitted from domestic dogs, usually through a dog bite.