Global epidemiology of canine rabies: past, present, and future prospects

Figures & data

Figure 1 Rabies cases in humans and dogs for (A) Latin America 1982–2013 and (B) KwaZulu Natal, South Africa 2007–2014.

Notes: Red with diamonds, cases in humans from dogs; blue with triangles, cases in dogs; green with circles, cases in humans from bats. Graphs were drawn by the Pan American Health Organization with data from the SIEPI database. Reproduced with permission from Pan American Health Organization⁸¹ (A). Graph was redrawn from Figure 2 in the WHO/BMGF projects sixth meeting report.³⁴ (B). Adapted from Pan American Health Organization. SIEPI Epidemiological Information System; 2015. Available from: http://siepi.panaftosa.org.br/Panel.aspx?Idioma=i;⁸¹ and from WHO/HTM/NTD/NZD/2015.3. Report of the Sixth Meeting of the International Coordinating Group of the World Health Organization and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Project on Eliminating Human and Dog Rabies. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO. Copyright 2015.³⁴
Abbreviations: BMGF, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; WHO, World Health Organization.

Figure 2 Distribution of the global burden of rabies estimated for 2010: (A) human rabies deaths, (B) per capita death rates (per 100,000 persons), and (C) expenditure on dog vaccination (US$ per 100,000 persons).

Notes: Countries shaded in gray are free from canine rabies. Reproduced from Hampson K, Coudeville L, Lembo T, et al. Estimating the global burden of endemic canine rabies. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015;9(4):e0003709.⁸

Figure 3 Spending on rabies prevention through mass dog vaccination and costs that would be saved with rabies elimination.

Abbreviation: PEP, postexposure prophylaxis.

Table 1 The impacts and economic burdens of canine rabies vary by continent

Impacts	Africa	Asia	Latin America
Deaths	21,502	37,266	182
Deaths/100,000 population	2.09	0.93	0.03
DALYs lost	1,345,643	2,354,159	11,951
Exposures (to rabies, not all dog bites)	847,326	14,633,844	122,701
PEP treatments	1,387,848	26,589,222	835,656
Dog vaccination coverage	∼14%	∼16%	∼60%
Costs of prevention (US$)	15,948,303	42,115,175	63,287,263
Dog vaccination	14,520,789	38,528,371	61,033,617
Dog population management	1,305,247	3,369,953	1,930,503
Surveillance	122,267	216,851	323,143
Preventable costs (US$)	1,266,514,109	6,660,728,927	289,466,942
Productivity losses	773,352,665	3,852,276,021	30,242,012
Direct PEP	156,110,495	1,363,634,648	129,331,962
Indirect PEP	57,504,777	1,225,773,035	117,705,839
Livestock losses	279,546,173	219,045,223	12,187,129
Total costs (US$)	1,282,462,412	6,702,844,102	352,754,205
Costs of prevention/person	0.02	0.01	0.12
Preventable costs/person	1.23	1.67	0.54

Notes: The bold data indicate total US$ costs. Preventable costs are considered to be all those that would be eliminated with the global elimination of canine rabies. Data are derived from Hampson K, Coudeville L, Lembo T, et al. Estimating the global burden of endemic canine rabies. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015;9(4):e0003709.⁸

Abbreviations: DALYs, disability-adjusted life years; PEP, postexposure prophylaxis.

Pan American Health OrganizationSIEPI Epidemiological Information System2015 Available from: http://siepi.panaftosa.org.br/Panel.aspx?Idioma=iAccessed June 23, 2015

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WHO Report of the Sixth Meeting of the International Coordinating Group of the World Health Organization and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Project on Eliminating Human and Dog Rabies. WHO/HTM/NTD/NZD/2015.3Geneva, SwitzerlandWHO2015

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HampsonKCoudevilleLLemboTEstimating the global burden of endemic canine rabiesPLoS Negl Trop Dis201594e000370925881058

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