Bolstering human rabies surveillance in Africa is crucial to eliminating canine-mediated rabies

Canine rabies has been controlled or eliminated in most developed countries through mass dog vaccination programs. However, the transmission of rabies to humans continues to be a formidable public health problem in many developing countries, where unvaccinated dogs continue to be a substantial reservoir of human disease. Globally, rabies causes an estimated 59,000 human deaths each year, particularly in Asia (approximately 35,000 deaths) and Africa (21,000-25,000 deaths) However, these estimates are derived from projected dog bite incidence rates and other estimated factors for individual countries, and though they are many times higher than the rabies incidence rates reported by the national authorities of these countries, they likely do not accurately reflect the true burdens of the disease [3]. Together with a lack of disease awareness in vulnerable communities (particularly rural and impoverished ones) and a lack of political will to address rabies control, unreliable surveillance data contributes to a cycle of neglect in countries where the disease burden is highest