Rabies continues to be an active threat in many countries throughout the world, as regularly reported on ProMED. In an effort to help countries find and implement realistic solutions to reduce the burden of rabies throughout their territory, the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, Partners for Rabies Prevention and FAO’s Regional Central Animal Health in Bamako, under the coordination of Dr Tiziana Lembo, are launching a new on-line “Blueprint for canine rabies elimination and human rabies prevention” (www.rabiesblueprint.com).
This Blueprint brings together recommendations from WHO, OIE, FAO, academic institutions, animal welfare organizations, vaccine producers and other global stakeholders involved in rabies control as well as published data from the field, and case reports for closer examination of how human rabies can be prevented and canine rabies can be eliminated. It is not meant to replace existing material or national guidelines but rather to serve as an easy-to-use guide and a one-stop website where national stakeholders can find up-to-date normative and practical information on how to prevent and control rabies.
The information is available in both English and French and we hope to have additional languages to increase the website’s usage in other countries. More chapters addressing wildlife rabies control will soon be added. We invite everyone involved in rabies control throughout the world to utilize the Blueprint and look forward to comments and feedback on how we may improve the website.
