Dog rabies persists despite low virus prevalence

Dog-mediated rabies, a fatal disease which kills tens of thousands of people in Africa every year, remains persistently endemic in affected regions. That is, despite an overall low virus prevalence, and attempts to combat the deadly pathogen. The findings, from an important new study led by the University of Glasgow and published in Science , are based on information gained from tracing the fatal disease in a population of more than 50,000 dogs in Tanzania from 2002 until 2016. Dog-mediated rabies is transmitted through bites and scratches - either from dog to dog or dog to human - and is almost 100% fatal unless immediately treated with a post-bite course of injections that prevents the infection from taking hold. The deadly zoonotic virus is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year, mostly affecting children, particularly in lowand middle-income countries. The WHO leads the collective United Against Rabies to drive progress towards zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030 because the disease remains endemic across Africa and Asia. The persistent circulation of rabies at very low prevalence in largely unvaccinated domestic dog populations is an enduring scientific enigma.