Dog-mediated rabies in humans is a completely preventable, deadly disease that disproportionately affects rural communities, particularly children, of economically disadvantaged areas of the world.
It is not lack of science that stands in the way of successful rabies control, it is the failure to implement well-defined control measures across responsible sectors in areas where rabies is a problem. A rabies control program must at least secure public awareness, disease surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, dog vaccinations and post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for humans.
This project, which is led by the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, is an interdisciplinary collaborative project with partners from Norway, Malawi and the United Kingdom. The research group wants to find out what stands in the way and what is required to implement measures to control rabies in Malawi and uses a One Health approach to connect disciplines, sectors and actors from civil society to investigate whether this can increase the impact when measures against rabies are implemented. The project will also investigate whether vaccine immunity can be improved in dogs by using a new adjuvant to enhance the effect of the vaccine.
The project is a collaborative project between the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Malawi, the Public Health Institute of Malawi, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the universities of Bergen, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and the NGO Mission Rabies. The overall goal is to improve rabies control in Malawi and reduce the burden of disease. In addition, the project wants to contribute with recommendations for procedures and best practices in other areas of the world, and find out how different sectors can best work together in a One Health approach to combat diseases that are transmitted between animals and humans.
Three PhD students in Malawi have mapped how the monitoring and control of rabies works both on the public health side and on the animal health side, and how civil society contributes to promoting this work. Results show that the monitoring of rabies lacks a formal structure and that lack of resources is the most significant bottleneck. A study of the surveillance system for rabies, both in animals and humans, has also been carried out and can provide a basis for strengthening disease surveillance in a one-health perspective. Vaccination campaigns for dogs were carried out in one district of Malawi in 2023 and 2024. Findings, experiences and feedback from various actors after the campaign in 2023 were used to adapt and improve the implementation of the campaign in 2024. The vaccine study to investigate the effect of combining rabies vaccine with a new adjuvant in dogs has been completed and laboratory analyses to investigate the immune response after vaccination will soon be completed.
Dog-mediated rabies in humans is a completely preventable, deadly disease that continues to disproportionately affect rural communities, particularly children, of economically disadvantaged areas of the world. It is a neglected zoonotic disease for which increased global action is needed for the sake of health equity. The WHO aims to eliminate dog-mediated rabies in humans by 2030.
It is not lack of science that stands in the way of successful control of rabies, it is the failure to implement well-defined measures in the realm of One Health to control disease in endemic areas. Therefore, this project will use an implementation research approach to improve control of rabies in Malawi, a country particularly affected by rabies. The project will save lives, reduce disease burden from rabies and improve health equity also beyond Malawi and Africa.
A multi-approach strategy bridging scientific disciplines, sectors and civil society actors will be used to operationalize One Health to combat rabies in Malawi. A rabies control program must secure public awareness, disease surveillance, diagnostics, dog vaccinations and post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for humans. We will investigate what interventions are most likely to successfully secure implementation of effective rabies control in Malawi and whether it can be bolstered with social accountability initiatives. In addition, we will assess vaccine induced immunity in free-roaming dogs and molecular epidemiology of rabies virus in Malawi to inform design of dog vaccine campaigns. A novel adjuvant will be tested to see if vaccine immunity in dogs can be boosted. Results will improve control of zoonotic diseases in Malawi, enable up scale-up of rabies control and also inform best practice in other countries. By anchoring rabies control in One Health, the project answers to a knowledge need on how One health can best be operationalized, which can have a far-reaching impact on our ability to combat zoonotic diseases.
