Take the bite out of rabies

Domestic dogs are the most common reservoir of the virus, with more than 99% of human deaths from the disease caused by dog-mediated rabies.

This year, most of our energy has been directed at controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. But there are many infectious diseases that are far more dangerous than COVID- 19. One of these is rabies.

Rabies is a contagious, viral zoonosis that causes damage to the brain and spinal cord, and is uniformly fatal. It affects animals and humans.

Two biotypes of rabies virus occur in Southern Africa: the canid type, which circulates in domestic dogs and other canids, and the viverrid type, which circulates in mongooses. Rabies in dogs is a preventable disease.

RABIES IN SOUTH AFRICA

Rabies is more common in domestic dogs in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, the Free State and Limpopo, and human rabies has therefore been reported predominantly from these provinces. Over the past decade, an average of 13 human cases have been reported in South Africa each year.