Rabies is a viral disease that is predominantly transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. It affects the central nervous system and if a person does not receive proper medical care after a potential rabies exposure, it can result in infection and death. In the United States, rabies is primarily found in wild animals like raccoons, bats, foxes, and skunks, but in several other countries dogs are still rabies carriers. The majority of worldwide rabies deaths are the result of dog bites.
Major health organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are working together to eliminate rabies deaths in people by 2030. We have the vaccines, medicines, tools, and technologies to prevent people from dying from dog-mediated rabies. For a relatively low cost, it is possible to break the disease cycle and save lives.
At WSU's Paul G. Allen School for Global Health, researchers are working to control rabies through mass dog rabies vaccination campaigns that leverage existing government resources. The focus is to decrease the cost of delivering canine rabies vaccines and find solutions for transporting vaccines to remote areas and resource-poor communities. Combining game-changing vaccine research with community-based programs, WSU leads in the development and deployment of the strategies needed to eliminate rabies.
Mission Rabies supports vaccination clinics across Asia and Africa. In addition to vaccination clinics, mission rabies focuses on education sessions aimed to empower children, their teachers, and their families with the knowledge to protect themselves from bites, prevent rabies, and save lives. Members of the public bring their dogs for vaccination and sterilization and raise awareness of emergency rabies response teams. The goal of Mission Rabies is to create communities that know how to protect themselves from rabies and who act to support rabies control.
For more than 25 years, Merck Animal Health has donated canine rabies vaccines through the Afya Program to Mission Rabies and Rabies Free Africa in support of the commitment to eradicate rabies worldwide. The global non-profit initiative is committed to donating NOBIVAC® rabies vaccine for use in canine vaccination campaigns in communities that are in desperate need of these life-saving vaccines.
Bravado's Campaign is a fund that supports organizations on a larger scale in the veterinary industry. Founder, Dr. Murphy's childhood golden retriever, Bravado, shaped his life and led to him choosing a career in veterinary medicine. While veterinary school can dive deep into the medicine, Bravado was the constant reminder of the "why" behind this profession. To strengthen and nurture the human and animal bond.