Although rabies, one of the oldest known zoonoses, is actually easy to prevent, up to 70,000 people worldwide still die from an infection. The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) has been researching this infectious disease for decades and has successfully contributed to the development of control strategies. For example, it has significantly contributed in the eradication of fox rabies in Germany. The knowledge about the infectious disease and effective control strategies gained from this work is used by FLI scientists in international projects. The currently much-cited One Health approach is important in this context, which takes into account the health of humans, animals and the environment as a whole and thus strives for sustainable improvements. Various projects are underway at the international level, including projects to control rabies in dogs in Namibia and Thailand. FLI works together with partners such as the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) and Mission Rabies.
Previously to World Rabies Day on 28 September, a virtual meeting will be held on 22 September to discuss the ambitious goal of eradicating rabies cases in humans caused by dogs by 2030. Only by vaccinating dogs the most significant source of human infection can be eliminated.
The webinar will be hosted by the WHO-FAO-OIE Tripartite, a consortium of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). The importance of the event is expressed by the fact that the respective heads of the organisations Dr. Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus (WHO), Dr. Qu Dongyu (FAO), Dr. Monique Eloit (OIE) will open the event.
From the FLI, its president Prof. Thomas C. Mettenleiter will highlight the importance of the One Health aspect in connection with rabies, while Dr. Thomas Müller will explain why monitoring measures are important for monitoring the success of measures.
FLI partners on rabies include
Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC): https://rabiesalliance.org/
Mission Rabies: http://www.missionrabies.com/
Tritpartie FAO OIE WHO : https://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/zoonose/concept-note/en/
