November 2022
In a rural village in Northern Kenya, an eight-year-old boy name Ibrahim, who is tending the family’s goat herd is one day being pestered by an oddly behaving dog. The dog is owned by the family and used to help protect the herd from wildlife predation. On this day, the dog is lethargic, drooling and charging at the goats rather than protectively watching over them. The boy approaches the dog and attempts to shoo it away from the goats, and the dog bites him then runs away.
Perhaps this dog is just hungry or ill-socialized. Perhaps it is infected with rabies, one of the oldest recognized viruses, described as early as 6000 BC. Rabies is the basis of many cultural fables and myths, many of which unfortunately persist to this day. Some of these include that only wild animals get rabies, or that dogs with common skin afflictions (such as mange) are rabid, or that common herbs can cure rabies. Rabies in people is frequently misdiagnosed as epilepsy or, in some cultures, believed to be demonic possession. Worldwide, it is well documented that a person dies of rabies every 10 minutes, but given the commonality of misdiagnosis, that number is surely much higher.
Rabies virus is infectious to all mammalian (“warm-blooded”) species. It affects the brain and typically causes aggression or other strange behaviors. Many wildlife species can be a source of rabies infections in domestic animals. The virus is carried in the saliva and spread through bite wounds. Dogs’ close association with people, and their use as guard and herding animals makes them specifically vulnerable to exposure from wildlife, and in turn, dog bites are the most common means of transmission to humans. Cats and domestic livestock such as donkeys, cattle, camels and horses are also commonly exposed and can also transmit rabies to people.
Many public health threats and diseases are complicated and difficult to understand and manage, but rabies is not one of them. Rabies in 100% fatal to its victims and it is 100% preventable with a vaccine that costs less than $1 per dose. Rabies is the lonely disease for which a vaccine can prevent disease both before, and after, exposure from a dog bite. An effective vaccine has been available since 1885. Thus, despite dogs’ status as the primary vector of rabies to humans, they are also the key to limiting rabies in domestic livestock and people. A well vaccinated population of dogs acts as a biological barrier to prevent rabies transmission into vulnerable communities. If you didn’t already think of dogs as angelic heroes, just think about that biological fact! Studies have shown that vaccination of 70% of the dog population in an affected area will effectively stop the transmission of rabies from wildlife to domestic animals, and ultimately then eliminate rabies in people. Limiting the population of stray dogs (and thus the incidence of dog bites) by means of safe and effective surgical sterilization (spay/neuter) also helps to limit the spread of rabies and other diseases that can be passed from animals to people.
If treated immediately after a bite wound from a rabid animal, a person can be saved with a series of inoculations known as PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis). Knowledge of the availability of this treatment is limited amongst many communities, and the cost of PEP can be prohibitive for many rural Kenyans. Several weeks after Ibrahim was bitten, his family took him to a clinic because he had a fever and lethargy. Rabies was suspected and Ibrahim was treated with PEP. Tragically, too much time had passed for the PEP treatments to be effective, and Ibrahim died within weeks. This is a true story and it occurred in August of 2022. Another child in this community in rural northern Kenya died of rabies in November this year.
The tragedy is that a simple, inexpensive vaccine for the involved dogs would have saved the lives of these children and the unimaginable grief of their families. Deaths like this happen several times daily across Kenya. This is our “why.” Vet Treks is committed to working with local Kenyan veterinarians and public health entities to educate the public about rabies exposure avoidance, appropriate post exposure hygiene and treatment, and the value of vaccinating and sterilizing large numbers of animals in affected areas.
Our mission – to train and equip local vets to sustain vaccination and sterilization efforts year-around – is the key, we believe, to the sustained animal care needed in these rural communities, and to ultimately eliminating domestic and human rabies, as well as other diseases commonly passed from animals to people. Vet Treks runs large scale rabies vaccination clinics parallel with our sterilization campaigns and to date, has vaccinated over 6100 dogs, cats and donkeys against rabies. We have safely sterilized over 600 dogs and cats. We have trained 140 veterinarians in high volume spay/neuter techniques and equipped them with the supplies and instrumentation they need to continue this important work in their own communities.
Some might say, “why bother? It’s just a drop in the bucket and can never eliminate rabies or animal or human suffering for good.” But I say this does not mean we don’t try to make a difference. We are by no means going to solve the problem of rabies or stray overpopulation worldwide, or even in Kenya. But our projects can make, and are making a difference in one small corner of the planet.
Please consider contributing to help us continue our good work in Kenya. By becoming a monthly contributor, your donations can potentially save the lives of hundreds of people, support the economic security of families that depend on healthy guard dogs and livestock, and limit the suffering of dogs and other animals. To make a donation, Click Here
Thank you,
Lisa McCarthy
Executive Director, Vet Treks Foundation