The World Rabies Day is observed on 28 September across the world to raise awareness about the rabies disease and its preventable measures.
Observance of the day seeks to raise awareness about the impact of rabies on animals and human beings. It also seeks to share information on how to prevent the disease.
2016 Theme: “Rabies: Educate. Vaccinate. Eliminate”.
The World Rabies Day is an initiative of Global Alliance for Rabies Control. Observance of the day was initiated in 2007 to create a global opportunity for people to focus on rabies prevention. The day is annually on 28 September on the death anniversary of Louis Pasteur, a French chemist and microbiologist who had developed the first rabies vaccine along with his colleagues.
Rabies is a viral disease that causes inflammation of the brain (acute encephalitis) in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic disease i.e. transmitted from one species to another, commonly by a bite from an infected animal such as from dogs to humans. The rabies virus infects the central nervous system (CNS) and ultimately causing disease in the brain and death. Domestic dogs are the most common reservoir of the rabies virus. Dog-mediated rabies accounts for more than 95% of human deaths.