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Operational activities
This section will provide practical details about the actual implementation of a rabies control and prevention programme including:
- Background information needed before starting
- Supplies and personnel required
- Operational activities related to dog rabies control and human rabies prevention
- Evaluation of the programme
- Possible mechanisms for sustainability.
Raising awareness of the problem of rabies and ways to prevent it in the community is vital to ensuring community participation in any control activities. Understanding the community’s knowledge and attitudes towards rabies will help identify barriers that may need to be overcome before launching a control programme. Section 4 has detailed guidance on how to design communication campaigns to enable the community to benefit from control programmes.
- 5.1. What do we need to know before we start planning a canine rabies control programme?
- 5.1.1. The epidemiology of rabies
- 5.1.2. The reservoir species
- 5.1.2.1. Which animal species should be targeted?
- 5.1.2.2. Are there other animals besides dogs that can transmit rabies (e.g. cats, cows, horses, sheep, pigs, goats, wildlife, bats, etc.)?
- 5.1.2.3. Why is it important to know the relationship between man and dog in your country/area?
- 5.1.2.4. What kind of dogs are present in the target area/country?
- 5.1.2.5. What is the total number of dogs in the target area/country?
- 5.1.3. How rabies is transmitted
- 5.1.3.1 How is rabies transmitted?
- 5.1.3.2. What exactly is an exposure to rabies?
- 5.1.3.3. How long is the incubation period after an exposure occurs?
- 5.1.3.4. Can rabies be transmitted through food (i.e. by eating milk or meat)?
- 5.1.3.5. Can rabies be transmitted by feeding street dogs?
- 5.1.3.6. Can rabies be transmitted while butchering animals?
- 5.1.3.7. Can I get rabies from a patient that had rabies if I shared food and water with him/her?
- 5.2. What do we need to buy?
- 5.2.1. What supplies do dog vaccinating teams need?
- 5.2.2. What supplies are needed for sterilisation programmes?
- 5.2.3. What supplies are needed for a clinic administering human pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis?
- 5.2.4. What basic supplies do rabies surveillance personnel need in the field?
- 5.2.5. What supplies do we need for laboratory-based rabies diagnosis using the fluorescence antibody test?
- 5.2.6. What can I do if I do not have a fluorescent microscope in my laboratory?
- 5.3. Who do we need to train and in what?
- 5.4. What are we going to do – dog component?
- 5.4.1. What techniques are available to estimate the number of dogs?
- 5.4.2. Why is epidemiological surveillance important and what can we do to enhance it?
- 5.4.3. Are there specific signs in an animal that we can watch to confirm that it is rabid?
- 5.4.4. How do we dispose of animals that have died of rabies?
- 5.4.5. What methods and strategies are available for dog vaccination?
- 5.4.6. How do we plan the vaccination campaign on the ground?
- 5.4.7. How do we make sure that the community and dog owners know about the vaccination campaign?
- 5.4.8. Which dogs should be vaccinated?
- 5.4.9. How often should dogs be vaccinated?
- 5.4.10. How often should campaigns be conducted?
- 5.4.11. Should cats be vaccinated?
- 5.4.12. How many people are needed on an average vaccination day?
- 5.4.13. How can the level of vaccination coverage achieved be estimated?
- 5.4.14. Is it important to include dog population management in rabies control programmes?
- 5.4.15. Should dogs be removed as part of rabies vaccination campaigns?
- 5.4.16. What dog population management tools are currently recommended?
- 5.4.17. Our programme has been successful and we have eliminated dog rabies from an area - how do we keep this area rabies-free?
- 5.4.18. How can we monitor dog movements?
- 5.4.19. How can we prevent a rabies outbreak?
- 5.4.20. What do we need to do if rabies is re-introduced into an area after a period of absence?
- 5.5. What are we going to do – human component?
- 5.5.1. What is the difference between pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis?
- 5.5.2. Who should receive pre-exposure prophylaxis?
- 5.5.3. What do we need to know about products for human rabies prophylaxis?
- 5.5.4. How do we deal with or prevent exposures?
- 5.5.5. What do we need to know about regimens, doses and schedules?
- 5.5.6. Are there any conditions that might affect post-exposure prophylaxis?
- 5.5.7 How do we ensure that bite victims seek PEP?
- 5.5.8 End of life care for rabies patients
- 5.6 Evaluation
- 5.6.1. How can we find out if the canine rabies control programme has been successful?
- 5.6.2. Has the programme reached enough dogs?
- 5.6.3. Has the programme had an impact on dog rabies cases?
- 5.6.4. Has the programme had an impact on human rabies deaths, bite exposures and demand for human post-exposure treatment?
- 5.6.5. How well do dogs respond to vaccination?
- 5.6.6. Self-Assessment of national rabies programmes
- 5.7. How do we ensure sustainability of the rabies control programme?
