Haiti fight rabies with vaccines and vigilance

Last July, in the remote place of Butête, in South Haiti, nine-year-old Jonas* lost his life to rabies.

When a stray dog ​​bit the boy on the leg, the wound seemed small. Like many families who lived far from all health facilities, his mother did not know that immediate care was crucial.

Within a week the child started to feel weak and refused to eat. By the time he reached the nearest hospital, he began to show the unmistakable symptoms of the rabies virus, including unbearable muscle spasms and hydrophobia, the fear of water.

Not long after, Jonas died surrounded by his family.

He is the most recent victim of this deadly but completely prevented disease that has already claimed four lives this year in the Caribbean island nation, which has to do with a multitude of crises, including political, economic and political instability, as well as acute poverty and lack of access to health services.

Data collected between 2022 and 2024 in Haiti show that the rabies virus continues to pose a serious threat to public health where more than 8,000 suspected cases were investigated in dogs.

Of these, more than 1,100 cases were considered probably and 46 were confirmed in a laboratory.

In the same period, 24 suspicious human cases were probably caused by a dog bite, with eight confirmed dead.

Surveillance, research and response

As soon as Jonas was admitted to the hospital, the National Surveillance Network of the Ministry of Health was warned.

Supported by the Panamerican Health Organization (PAHO) – part of the World Health Organization (WHO)-This national network of field staff and resources, including locally based epidemiology assistants and ‘Labo-Moto’Health workers who visit communities on motorbikes quickly swung into action.

A response team was used in Butête to confirm that no one else in the community was exposed to rabies.

The boy’s family was closely monitored and received care after exposure. The team also inspected the area where the dog and her puppies had died.

The research ordered to organize a dog vaccination campaign, to strengthen supervision and improve access to vaccines of human rabies for treatment after exposure.

A response team was used in Butête to confirm that no one else in the community was exposed to rabies.

The boy’s family was closely monitored and received care after exposure. The team also inspected the area where the dog and her puppies had died.

The research ordered to organize a dog vaccination campaign, to strengthen supervision and improve access to vaccines of human rabies for treatment after exposure.

Deadly, but completely prevented

To curb the spread of rabies in Haiti, a vaccination campaign for dogs was launched in August with the aim of vaccinating around 140,000 dogs, including stray and community animals, while the public is also aware of prevention.

Before this was given training to four department coordinators, seventeen common coordinators and more than 480 veterinary tools, which were later deployed in 240 teams in priority areas in the four departments of Artibonite, Center, Nord-Est and Nord-Out.

An important innovation was the use of a mobile app to register vaccinated dogs, making real -time data collection, coverage monitoring and improved data quality possible.

“By vaccinating dogs on a large scale, we directly protect human communities – especially children. It is a simple but vital action that saves lives,” says Dr. Oscar Barrecheeche, the PAHO/WHO representative in Haiti. “Rabies is deadly, but 100 percent avoidable.”

Build up long -term

Achieving an estimated coverage of 80 percent vaccination in the population of the target dogs is expected to significantly reduce the circulation of rabies in dogs.

The campaign is also intended to increase the consciousness of the prevention of rabies and to promote appropriate reactions to the bit of suspected rabid animals.

“Despite the challenges and limitations of the safety situation and the overall instability in the country, we consider this vaccination campaign a considerable success,” said Dr. Haïm Joseph Corvil, coordinator for protection unit at the Ministry of Agriculture of Haiti, natural resources and rural development.

Global Health Challenge

Rabies remains one of the world’s deadliest zoosotic diseases – infections that can be transferred from animals to people.

Worldwide it causes an estimated 59,000 deaths per year, of which 40 percent of which are children.

According to Paho, a reduction of 98 percent in cases of human rabies transferred by dogs has fallen from 300 cases in 1983 in North and South America, according to PAHO in 1983 to only 10 cases reported in the past year.

* The name has been changed to protect the identity of the person