Bhutan recognized for eliminating dog-transmitted rabies ahead of World Rabies Day

The World Health Organization has validated Bhutan for eliminating dog-transmitted human rabies, making it the first country in Southeast Asia and the second worldwide, after Mexico, to hit the mark. The WHO says Bhutan recorded zero human deaths from the disease since June 2023, backed by a 2021 royal decree that funded sterilization and vaccination of the country's free-roaming dogs.

Field teams reportedly achieved full sterilization coverage and vaccinated over 90 percent of free-roaming dogs, clearing the 70 percent threshold the WHO says is needed to break transmission. Post-exposure treatment is free nationwide, funded by the Bhutan Health Trust Fund.

Chile received the same validation weeks earlier, having gone case-free since 1972. Both announcements land around World Rabies Day, under a WHO-led campaign aiming to end human deaths from the disease globally by 2030.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.