Medically reviewed by Susan Kerrigan, MD and Marianne Madsen on February 2, 2023
Rabies is a viral disease that causes inflammation of the brain and is usually fatal. Once a person infected with rabies shows symptoms, they will most likely not survive the illness. In the majority of cases, rabies is transmitted by infected dogs–in fact, more than 99% of rabies cases are caused by dog bites.
Rabies is especially prevalent in the Dominican Republic. The CDC warns that an increasing number of people are reporting being bitten by stray dogs or cats. They caution against petting street animals, as they can spread rabies without showing symptoms. Between July and December of 2018, three children under the age of 10 living in the rural town of Pedernales died from rabies after being bitten by infected dogs. In January 2019, the CDC enlisted the help of veterinarian David Moran to come up with a solution.
The CDC’s Plan
The CDC team, together with Moran, met with local health authorities to determine what the community was doing to control the rabies outbreak. It was brought to light that vigilantes were killing dogs on the streets in an attempt to curb the spread of the disease. Moran and the CDC team agreed that this could not go on. After some brainstorming, they came up with a strategy: They would monitor local dogs using collars embedded with GPS trackers to find out where the infected animals were coming from.
After fitting 10 dogs with GPS collars, the team saw that the dogs were traveling to and from the neighboring community of Anse-à-Pitre in Haiti–a likely source of the rabies outbreak. They then decided to vaccinate the dogs, basing their decision on research that shows that rabies can be controlled in areas where 70% of dogs are vaccinated. Using a mobile application developed by Mission Rabies, the team estimated how many dogs were “free-roaming.” Free-roaming dogs are dogs that go where they please, rather than being confined to their owner’s yard. These dogs are more likely to contract rabies due to their untethered status. Data taken from the mobile app showed that there were more free-roaming dogs than the team anticipated.
After presenting the results to the governor, public health leaders, and the local community, the team convinced the authorities to conduct an emergency vaccination campaign for local dogs. Government workers also began searching for people reported bitten by dogs to ensure they were vaccinated as well. After the campaign was completed at the beginning of 2019, no further deaths from rabies were reported in Pedernales.
However, the CDC is still fighting rabies globally. Their goal is to achieve a world free of canine rabies by 2030. With the help of technology, they can make that happen.
Written by Natan Rosenfeld
