Cambodia pursues dog herd immunity to eradicate rabies

“This is really a proof of concept to show that it can be done,” Dr Gamble said. “What we then want to do is have scalable plans that can be deployed economically across the country.”

The charity is also working to improve surveillance systems and awareness of rabies in Cambodia, Dr Gamble added – in particular the need to receive prompt post-exposure treatment after being bitten by a dog. . Without it, the disease is almost 100% fatal.

“It’s a truly horrible death…and Cambodia is a real hotspot,” said Dr Gamble. “600,000 people are bitten by dogs in the country every year, and statistically it turns out that between one and two children die of rabies every week, so it’s a very important situation to get under control.”

Professor Thiravat Hemachudha, a professor of neurology at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand who has been involved in the global rabies response for decades, said he hoped it would provide an effective strategy to finally control rabies through vaccination.

“Rabies should be the prototype for zoonotic disease control, it should have been brought under control 20 years ago,” said Professor Hemachudha, who is not involved in the vaccination campaign. “We know where [rabies] comes, we know how to stop it – it’s not like trying to control a disease in wildlife…I really hope [project] will be sustainable. »

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