Rabies kills 59,000 people a year, or about 160 a day — more than had previously been assumed — according to a study published last week.
The report, based on mathematical modeling, is higher than previous estimates based on officially reported deaths, the authors said. It was produced by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control and published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Although India has the most rabies deaths — almost 21,000 a year — many African countries have higher per capita death rates. China also has a high death rate from rabies.
Although all mammalian animals can get rabies, 99 percent of human deaths from rabies are caused by dog bites.
People can be saved even after being bitten, and modern rabies shots are not painful. But the human vaccine costs between $11 and $150 a dose and is rarely available in very poor countries. Also, the disease is often misdiagnosed until the most obvious symptoms set in. By then, death is virtually inevitable.
Mass vaccination of dogs is the cheapest and most effective way to fight rabies, the report said. But the cost of dog vaccine varies widely, from as little as 20 cents a dose in East Africa to up to $7 in West Africa, for reasons the report did not clarify.
Culling programs — even when aimed only at strays — often fail because protests arise. Dog-lovers hide strays, and unvaccinated pets remain a reservoir of the virus.
Dog vaccination has reduced human death rates from rabies to near zero in North America and South America; the few rabies deaths in the hemisphere are more often caused by undetected bat bites.