A champion in saving lives
Mexico: a champion in the fight against rabies. It’s the first country in the world to be declared free from dog-transmitted rabies according to new standards by the World Health Organization (WHO)1. It also has an estimated 25.6 million dogs living on the street – that’s 75.3 percent of the entire Mexican dog population2 – that could potentially pose a risk of infection. How did Mexico defeat the odds, achieving this great success against rabies? Read on to find out!
In the early 1990s, Mexico had 60 human cases of rabies every year, with every case of this fatal disease being one too many. Unwilling to tolerate this danger to its citizens’ lives any longer, the Mexican government made the fight against rabies a priority. The strategy: to immunize at least 70 percent of dogs to achieve herd immunity - 99 percent of all human rabies infections result from dog bites. Together with Rhône Mérieux, which later became Merial and is now Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, Mexico started free dog vaccination campaigns on a large scale. Yet fighting rabies sustainably is not an easy feat.
In it for the long haul
Every year since the early 1990s, Mexico has been dedicating two months to large dog vaccination and neutering campaigns – an initial campaign in March and a booster campaign in September (during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was adjusted to one month: September). In the first few years of the campaign, the number of rabies cases did not drop significantly. But officials did not let this deter them. They kept going. By 1999, the country was down to three human rabies cases a year, dropping to zero by 2007. What happens during these two months of rabies vaccination campaigns every year that is so effective against the disease?
All hands on deck to fight rabies!
During the campaigns, long lines of people form in front of special campaign areas with veterinary practitioners (public health workers and volunteers), where dog owners can get their dog vaccinated free of charge. Dog catchers and veterinarians swarm out to vaccinate stray dogs. And Boehringer Ingelheim supplies veterinarians and public health workers with a whole rabies vaccination kit. It contains not only the vaccine, but also a syringe, collar, plaque, and a vaccination card. Why the collar and plaque? To ensure that you can distinguish vaccinated and unvaccinated dogs. “Every year, we change the color and design of the dog collar and plaque. This way, veterinarians and dog catchers can easily see if they need to refresh the dog’s immunization,” shares Sandra Cortes, Animal Health Segment Associate Director at Boehringer Ingelheim Mexico. Currently, 80 percent of dogs are immunized against rabies thanks to these efforts – an impressive number, and an effective barrier against the disease. “It’s easy to underestimate rabies once you’ve controlled it, but if you let up your vaccination efforts, the disease can return because of infected wildlife,” highlights Sandra. That’s why taking the long-term view and consistency are so important when it comes to the fight against rabies.
Despite having an estimated 24 million dogs living on the street, Mexico eradicated dog-mediated rabies.
The country did so through continuous dog immunization campaigns, starting in the 1990s.
You need to immunize at least 70 percent of the entire dog population to protect humans from rabies. Mexico had its last human rabies case in 2006.
Boehringer Ingelheim is proud to support Mexico in the fight against rabies by supplying veterinarians and public health workers with rabies vaccination kits.
We come prepared
Sandra and her colleagues at Boehringer Ingelheim in Mexico undertake substantial efforts each year to continuously supply the Mexican government with the vaccination kit. “We prepare everything one year and a half in advance. This allows us to supply authorities with the large volume they need, at assured quality,” she explains.
Towards a world free of dog-transmitted rabies
“Mexico’s success in eliminating dog-transmitted rabies is an inspiration to others who are just starting the fight,” comments our own Guillaume Convert, Veterinary Public Health and Rabies Technical Service Director. Boehringer Ingelheim is proud to support this fight, and to have done so for 30 years and counting. Fayçal Aberkane, Director Strategic Development & Marketing, Veterinary Public Health, explains: “The quality, safety and efficacy of vaccines with tailored field management are key to eliminate rabies. Every nine minutes, somebody dies from rabies. In the frame of One Health, we will do our utmost to support the WHO in achieving their Zero by 30 (original source unavailable) strategic goal: to make sure that by 2030, no one dies from this preventable disease.”
References
1Becoming officially free from dog-mediated rabies:
The WHO considers any country to be rabies-free after two years without human cases – this includes countries like Australia, Japan or France. These countries continue to hold their status as free from dog-mediated rabies obtained through the WHO’s former process. However, the WHO has only established a more comprehensive process to verify that a country has indeed met this goal relatively recently. Mexico was the first country to apply for this status in 2016, and was the first one to successfully complete it in 2019.
2Data on file