VN September 2023

Vetnuus | September 2023 6 Rabies: All for 1, One Health for All On 28 September, we will be celebrating the 17 th World Rabies Day with the theme “Rabies: All for 1, One Health for All”. The 2023 theme builds on the success of the 2022 campaign which was also focussed on One Health, but taking it a step further to focus more on collaboration, equality and the strengthening of health systems. The slogan is derived from the famous Alexandre Dumas novel: The Three Musketeers: “All for one and one for all”. This team of individuals overcame hardships and injustice to achieve their goals – this correlates with the struggles experienced with rabies control and how stakeholders need to join hands to overcome injustice (imbalanced health systems) and work together to achieve the global goal of zero human-dog-mediated rabies deaths by 2030. This message calls for everyone to play their part, to remain educated on rabies and to create awareness where your reach extends. The current situation in South Africa Animal rabies occurs in all nine provinces, highlighting the importance of vaccination of dogs and cats against rabies in all areas. Canine rabies cycles are predominantly concentrated in the eastern parts of the country (Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape provinces and the eastern Free State border with Lesotho). Some areas in these provinces have highly concentrated and free-roaming dog populations, which exacerbates the spread of the disease if these dog populations are not adequately vaccinated. Dogs and cats are often moved between provinces by travellers, workers, or holiday-goers, which can easily cause a spillover of rabies to any area if these animals are unvaccinated and incubating the disease. In 2021, 994 rabies-positive laboratory results had been recorded in animals, compared to 1156 positive laboratory results in 2022. In 2023, up to the end of July, 328 rabies-positive laboratory results have been recorded in animals, which amounts to roughly 1.5 cases detected per day. Reported figures will be an under-representation of the true number of cases, as not all outbreaks are detected, not all carcasses are sampled and not all results are always effectively reported to and through the state veterinary services channel. The map in Figure 1, shows the distribution of rabies outbreaks in different species for the period of 2013-2022. The vast majority of human rabies cases in South Africa have been caused by exposure to rabid dogs. Just over two-thirds of human rabies cases reported over the last forty years, occurred in children aged 15 years and younger. In 2021, nineteen laboratory-confirmed and four probable human rabies cases (total = 23) had been reported to the National Department of Health, compared to 13 laboratory-confirmed and six probable cases (total = 19) of human rabies reported in 2022. In 2023, up to the end of July, six laboratory-confirmed human rabies cases have been reported, which relates roughly to a case confirmed per month. The graph below shows the number of laboratory-confirmed human rabies cases, which all occurred in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo provinces. Three things to remember and share 1. Rabies vaccination protocol for dogs and cats Prevention is always better than cure…especially if there is no cure.  The first rabies vaccine should be administered when the dog or cat is at least 12 weeks (three months) old. A second booster vaccine must be administered within 12 months, but at least one month after the first vaccine. Thereafter, booster vaccination every three years is required. (In high-risk settings we strongly advise booster vaccination annually). World Rabies Day 2023 Dr Alicia Cloete September 28th 2023 will be the 17thWorld Rabies Day! Image: Global Alliance for Rabies Control (https://rabiesalliance.org) Image: Global Alliance for Rabies Control (https://rabiesalliance.org)