September 28 is World Rabies Day, which was launched by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC). The purpose of this day is to address the effects of rabies on people and animals and related prevention measures to reduce the harm caused by rabies on animal and people. This year’s (2014) theme is “Together Against Rabies,” stressing the interdependent relationship between human and animal health. 

According to data from the World Health Organization and the GARC, approximately 55,000 people throughout the world die from rabies each year (on average, 1 person dies from rabies every 10 minutes), 95% of them in Asia and Africa. In some areas where rabies is endemic, because people cull animals to control the epidemic, not only do these efforts fail to achieve their goal, but they also result in the slaughter of approximately 20 million dogs every year. In response to this, the GARC has stated that the spread of the rabies virus can be prevented by simply vaccinating dogs, preventing the spread of rabies and deaths in humans without culling animals out of fear of rabies. 

In the middle of July 2013, the Council of Agriculture announced a domestic animal rabies outbreak and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) listed Taiwan as a rabies-infected area. The strategies adopted by ministries of health and agricultural policy are: “implementing household pet and animal vaccinations,” “pre-exposure vaccination to protect first-line animal epidemic prevention staff,” and “immediate treatment for the people after exposure from being bitten by animals” to reduce the spread of animal diseases and the risk of rabies among people. These methods are consistent with the initiative of World Rabies Day. 

Rabies is a type of acute encephalomyelitis caused by the rabies virus, with a death rate of nearly 100%. The Centers for Disease Control remind the public that the central, southern, and eastern mountainous areas of Taiwan still have rabies-infected wild animals. If bitten by wild animals or stray dogs or cats, people should immediately clean the wound for 15 minutes with soap and substantial amounts of water. They should then disinfect the wound with povidone-iodine or 70% alcohol before going as quickly as possible to 1 of the 71 hospitals (clinics) in Taiwan providing vaccination services for human rabies. After being treated by a physician, the National Health Insurance will pay for 5 vaccines, to be administered in accordance with the following schedule – 0, 3, 7, 14, and 28 days after the bite, with human rabies immunoglobulins to reduce the risk of developing the disease. 

For relevant information, please visit the CDC website (http://www.cdc.gov.tw), or call the domestic toll-free prevention hotline at 1922 (or 0800-001922).