Namibia utilises One Health for rabies control including oral rabies vaccines for dogs

1) Interview with Rauna Athingo (Namibia)

2) Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI) – Using oral rabies vaccines (value and use)

For more than five years now, the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI) has been supporting Namibia’s efforts to control rabies in various areas. Besides carrying out assessments, epidemiological analyses, and building capacity at the laboratory side, vaccination has been a particular focus.

Currently, rabies elimination efforts rely on mass dog vaccination by the parenteral route, which means injecting a dose of rabies vaccine under the skin. Vaccination campaigns usually rely on owners bringing their dog to vaccination points. However, free-roaming and stray dogs are sometimes hard to catch and this means that vaccination targets, to control rabies in the dog population, may not be reached.

To increase herd immunity, these free-roaming and stray dogs need to be specifically targeted by vaccination campaigns, and oral rabies vaccination (ORV) of dogs is one possible solution in such cases.