འཛམ་གླིང་ འ᭼ལ་ནད་ ཀྱི་ ❲ནམ་ ༢༠༢༠། World Rabies Day 2020 Observation in Bhutan
ྑ ཅངཙད
Report compiled by: Disease Prevention and Control Unit (DPCU) National Centre for Animal Health (NCAH) Department of Livestock (DoL), MoAF
1. Background 1.1 Rabies – the disease Rabies is an infectious viral disease caused by neurotropic RNA viruses of the genus Lyssavirus in the family Rhabdoviridae of the order Mononegavirales and is transmissible to all mammals. Of all the lyssaviruses known to date – 12 species distinguished – Classical rabies virus (RABV) is the most important one for public and animal health. The disease affects the central nervous system of mammals, including humans. The virus is particularly present in the saliva and brain of infected animals. It is transmitted via the saliva of an infected animal, most often a dog. The incubation period varies from several days to several months. Once symptoms are present, the disease is fatal for both animals and humans.
Rabies infection is maintained in two epidemiological cycles: urban and sylvatic. In the urban rabies cycle, dogs are the main reservoir host. This cycle predominates in areas of Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. The sylvatic (or wildlife) cycle is the predominant cycle in the northern hemisphere. It can also present simultaneously with the urban cycle in some parts of the world.
Rabies is still a pervasive global threat. Half of the world’s population live in an endemic area, and more than 80% of deaths occur in rural areas, where access to health education campaigns and post-bite prophylaxis is limited. Africa and Asia are the continents with the highest risk of human mortality, with more than 95% of the world’s fatal cases. These regions are also that where canine rabies is controlled the least. More than 95% of human cases of rabies are due to bites from infected dogs. Controlling and eradicating rabies therefore means combating it at its animal source.
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འཛམ་གླིང་ འ᭼ལ་ནད་ ཀྱི་ ❲ནམ་ ༢༠༢༠། World Rabies Day 2020 Observation in Bhutan
The disease has important social costs due to human mortality and high economic consequences due to the losses in livestock and the cost of the implementation of preventive and control measures in both animals and humans. ྑ ཅངཙད
1.2 Eliminating dog-mediated rabies to prevent human rabies
Rabies is preventable through three proven, effective interventions: 1. Awareness of rabies disease engages communities and empowers people to save themselves by seeking the care they need. This includes an understanding of how to prevent rabies in animals, when to suspect rabies, and what to do in case of a bite.
2. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) consists of a series of rabies vaccines and, in some cases, rabies immunoglobulin (RIG), administered after a suspected exposure to rabies. Appropriate wound management and prompt access to quality-assured PEP is almost 100% effective in preventing human rabies deaths.
3. Mass dog vaccination is a proven, cost–effective way to save human lives by stopping transmission of rabies at its source. While a variety of animal species can host rabies, dogs are responsible for 99% of human cases. Eliminating rabies in dogs is therefore key to sustainably preventing human disease.
Mass vaccination of dogs is the method of choice, as this is the only real way to interrupt the disease’s infectious cycle between animals and humans. It is estimated that by vaccinating 70% of the dogs where infection is still rife, rabies could be eradicated in dogs and the number of human cases would rapidly drop to almost zero.
The financial challenge represented by dog vaccination campaigns needs to be put into perspective: around 10% of the financial resources currently used to provide emergency treatment for bite victims would likely enable the entire world’s national Veterinary Services to eradicate rabies in dogs, the domestic animal most responsible for the disease.
2. World Rabies Day (WRD) 2.1 History
World Rabies Day is an international awareness campaign coordinated by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, a non-profit organization with headquarters in the United States. It is a United Nations Observance and has been endorsed by international human and veterinary health organizations such as the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. World Rabies Day takes place each year on September 28, the anniversary of the death of Louis
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འཛམ་གླིང་ འ᭼ལ་ནད་ ཀྱི་ ❲ནམ་ ༢༠༢༠། World Rabies Day 2020 Observation in Bhutan
Pasteur who, with the collaboration of his colleagues, developed the first efficacious rabies vaccine. ྑ ཅངཙད The first World Rabies Day campaign took place on 8 September 2007 as a partnership between the Alliance for Rabies Control and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA, with the co-sponsorship of the World Health Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Pan American Health Organization. In 2009, after three World Rabies Days, the Global Alliance for Rabies Control estimated that rabies prevention and awareness events had taken place in over 100 countries, that nearly 100 million people worldwide had been educated about rabies and that nearly 3 million dogs had been vaccinated during events linked to the campaign.
A 2011 review by a network of international government agencies, academics, NGOs and vaccine manufacturers identified World Rabies Day as a useful tool to assist with rabies prevention, targeting at-risk communities, animal health workers, public health practitioners, governments, key opinion leaders and experts.
In the years following the review, World Rabies Day has also been used by governments and international agencies as a day on which to announce policies, plans and progress on rabies elimination. For example, in 2013, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN, the World Health Organization and the World Organisation for Animal Health first called for the global elimination of canine-mediated rabies in a joint statement released on World Rabies Day. At the first Pan-African Rabies Control Network meeting in 2015, the 33 African countries represented their recommended consideration of World Rabies Day as an opportunity for rabies advocacy. It has been included in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Rabies Elimination Strategy.
2.2 WRD 2020 – “End Rabies: Collaborate, Vaccinate”
September 28th, 2020 was the 14th World Rabies Day, and this year’s theme was “End Rabies: Collaborate, Vaccinate”. End rabies: a reminder that we have 10 years to end human deaths from dog rabies and that we can raise awareness at the global level through the End Rabies Now campaign. Collaborate: The United Against Rabies coalition was formed and subsequently launched the Global Strategic Plan. We need to continue collaboration at the international, national, and local levels to eliminate rabies – especially keeping in mind that it’s a disease that knows no borders. Vaccinate: A massive breakthrough was recently made in the rabies world – GAVI, the vaccine alliance, has included rabies into its portfolio of vaccines. This means that with their support, 181,000 more human deaths from rabies can be prevented. We also need to remember to vaccinate dogs to prevent rabies at its source so that we can reach elimination.
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འཛམ་གླིང་ འ᭼ལ་ནད་ ཀྱི་ ❲ནམ་ ༢༠༢༠། World Rabies Day 2020 Observation in Bhutan
3. Observation of WRD 2020 in Bhutan 3.1 International ྑ ཅངཙད Bhutan participated in the webinar on “End Rabies: Collaborate, Vaccinate in the Asia Pacific Region” on 28 September, the WRD, organized by the Regional Tripartite (FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok; OIE Regional Representation for Asia and the Pacific, Tokyo; WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia, New Delhi; and WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, Manila). The focus of this year’s webinar was on sharing country experiences related to risk communication, disease surveillance and strategic dog vaccination, and developments in human prophylaxis, besides sharing updates on global progress. Representing Bhutan, the Animal Health Division of Department of Livestock, MoAF presented on “Bhutan’s experiences on using rabies surveillance for strategic dog vaccination – issues and challenges”.
3.2 National
To observe the WRD 2020, activities implemented at the national level are as follows: a. Reiterating Bhutan’s commitment to eliminate canine-mediated human rabies by 2030, a joint statement was released by the honourable ministers of Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MoAF) and Ministry of Health (MoH). b. Representatives from Department of Livestock (DoL), MoAF and Department of Public Health (DoPH), MoH participated in a panel discussion – which was broadcasted on the national television, BBS – to highlight the importance of the day, and create awareness on rabies and its preventive measures. c. Bulk SMS sharing through Bhutan Telecom to inform the public about the day and the advice to vaccinate their dogs against rabies. d. For wider coverage, infographics, important links, and messages about the day and rabies disease were shared through relevant websites, social media handles, and newspapers.
3.3 Regions and Districts
Various activities were implemented in the field to observe the event: a. Free anti-rabies vaccination for dogs and cats b. Registration of pets c. Sterilization of dogs and cats d. Displaying and distribution of educational posters and leaflets e. Deworming of dogs and cats f. Awareness to animal owners visiting animal health extension centres for pet vaccination or seeking other animal health services.
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འཛམ་གླིང་ འ᭼ལ་ནད་ ཀྱི་ ❲ནམ་ ༢༠༢༠། World Rabies Day 2020 Observation in Bhutan
Amidst the COVID-19 situations in the country, the World Rabies Day 2020 was observed in majority of the districts of the country.ྑ As ཅངཙད per the reports shared by the Regional Livestock Development Centres and the Dzongkhag Livestock Sectors, on the day, a total of 2,968 dogs and cats were vaccinated against rabies and 1,099 pets were registered at various animal health extension centres: National and Dzongkhag Veterinary Hospitals, Thromde (City) Veterinary Hospital and Satellite Laboratories, and Livestock Extension Centres or Renewable Natural Resources Extension Centres. Besides, pet deworming and sterilization services were also provided.
A region-wise (East: Lhuentse, Monggar, Trashigang, Trashi Yangtse, Pema Gatshel, and Samdrup Jongkhar; East Central: Bumthang, Trongsa, Zhemgang, and Tsirang; West: Paro, Haa, Thimphu, Chhukha, and Samtse; West Central: Gasa, Punakha, Wangdue Phodrang, Tsirang, and Dagana) anti-rabies vaccination and registration details are given in the following figure.
Figure 1: Number of dogs and cats vaccinated and/or registered on the WRD 2020
2500
2000 1919
1500
1000
590 626 465 500 320 139 0 8 0 Number East East Central West West Central Region
Vaccinated Registered
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འཛམ་གླིང་ འ᭼ལ་ནད་ ཀྱི་ ❲ནམ་ ༢༠༢༠། World Rabies Day 2020 Observation in Bhutan
Figure 2: In pictures – World Rabies Day observation in Bhutan (National) ྑ ཅངཙད
Presentation for WRD webinar Ministers’ joint statement
Bulk SMS Panel discussion
Presentation for awareness in the field Infographics on rabies, MoH
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འཛམ་གླིང་ འ᭼ལ་ནད་ ཀྱི་ ❲ནམ་ ༢༠༢༠། World Rabies Day 2020 Observation in Bhutan
Figure 3: In pictures – World Rabies Day observation in Bhutan (Regions and Districts)
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འཛམ་གླིང་ འ᭼ལ་ནད་ ཀྱི་ ❲ནམ་ ༢༠༢༠། World Rabies Day 2020 Observation in Bhutan
Acknowledgements
ྑ ཅངཙད • Waste Management and Stray Dog • Food and Agriculture Organization of the Population Control Flagship Programme United Nations (FAO) • Department of Livestock, MoAF • World Organization for Animal Health • Department of Public Health, MoH (OIE) • National Centre for Animal Health, DoL • World Health Organization (WHO) • Regional Livestock Development Centres • Global Alliance for Rabies Control • Dzongkhag Livestock Sectors (GARC) • Veterinary Hospitals • Livestock Extension Centres • Dzongkhag and Gewog administrations • Police and De-suups
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