National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination by 2030 (NAPRE)

Rabies

• It is a zoonotic viral disease.
• It is caused by the Rabies virus, of the Lyssavirus genus, within the family Rhabdoviridae.
  • It is an Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) virus that is present in the saliva of a rabid animal (dog, cat, monkey, etc).
• Rabies is 100% fatal but 100% vaccine preventable. 
• 33% of global rabies deaths are recorded in India.
• Common Vectors/ Reservoirs of Virus
  • The most common reservoir of the virus is the domestic/street dog especially in South Asia and Africa.
  • More than 99% of human deaths due to rabies are caused by dog-mediated rabies.
  • In developed nations like the USA, animals that transmit rabies are bats, foxes, raccoons, and skunks.
  • Most mammals can carry the virus and hence can cause the disease.
• It spreads by bite of a rabid animal that leads to deposition of the saliva and the virus in the wound.
  • The incubation period varies from 4 days to 2 years or sometimes even more.
  • Incubation period means the time interval between the bite and occurrence of symptoms/signs of the disease.
• Symptoms
  • Fever, Headache, Nausea, Vomiting
  • Anxiety, Confusion, Hyperactivity, Hallucinations, Insomnia
  • Difficulty swallowing
  • Excessive salivation
  • Partial paralysis
  • Fear brought on by attempts to drink fluids because of difficulty swallowing water, etc.
• The death invariably occurs in 4 days to 2 weeks due to cardio-respiratory failure.

Control and Prevention of Rabies

• Get rabies vaccination to prevent the infection.
• Vaccinating your pet against the disease.
• Maintain distance with the wild animals.
• Wash wounds with soap and water and maintain good hygiene.
• Keep your pets away from the other stray dogs.
• Prevent bats wandering around your campuses and living places.

World Rabies Day

• It is celebrated on 28 September which marks the anniversary of Louis Pasteur’s death.
  • Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist, who developed the first rabies vaccine.
  • He also discovered Pasteurisation, Vaccines for Anthrax and Cholera and Chamberland filters.
• In 2007, the first World Rabies Day (ERD) was organised by the two founding partners namely 
  • Alliance for Rabies Control (ARC) and 
  • the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta (CDC).
• Theme for World Rabies Day 2021 is “Rabies: Facts, not Fear”.

Notifiable Diseases

• A notifiable disease is any disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities. 
  • Registered medical practitioners need to
    • notify such diseases in a proper form within 3 days, or 
    • notify verbally via phone within 24 hours depending on the urgency of the situation.
• The collation of information allows the authorities to monitor the disease, and provides early warning of possible outbreaks.
• The WHO’s International Health Regulations, 1969 also require disease reporting to the WHO in order to help with its functions like 
  • global surveillance and 
  • advisory role.
• The onus of notifying any disease and the implementation lies with the state government in India.
• Few Notifiable Diseases
  • The Centre has notified several diseases such as 
    • Cholera, Diphtheria, Encephalitis, Leprosy, Meningitis, Pertussis (whooping cough), Plague, Tuberculosis, AIDS, Hepatitis, measles, yellow fever, malaria dengue, etc. 

One Health Approach

• It  is “the collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines 
  • working locally, nationally, and globally, 
  • to attain optimal health for people, animals and our environment“
• As two-thirds of all present diseases have their origin in animals, one health approach gains significance.

Source: ResearchGate