Last July, in the remote locality of goal, in the south of Haiti, Jonas *, nine, lost his life because of the rage.
When a wandering dog bit the boy on his leg, the injury seemed minor. Like many families living far from all health establishments, his mother ignored that immediate care was essential.
In a week, the child started to feel weak and refused to eat. As he reached the nearest hospital, he had started to show the undoubted symptoms of the rabies virus, including atrocious muscle spasms and hydrophobia, fear of water.
A PAHO health worker is preparing a rabies vaccination.
Shortly after, Jonas died surrounded by his family.
He is the most recent victim of this deadly but completely avoidable disease which has already made four lives this year in the island nation of the Caribbean, which deals with a multitude of crises, in particular political, economic and political instability as well as acute poverty and lack of access to health services.
The data collected between 2022 and 2024 in Haiti show that the rabies virus continues to constitute a serious threat to public health where more than 8,000 suspicious cases in dogs have been studied.
Among these, more than 1,100 cases were considered probable and 46 were confirmed in a laboratory.
During the same period, 24 suspected human cases were probably caused by a dog bite, with eight experienced deaths.
Surveillance, survey and response
As soon as Jonas was admitted to the hospital, the national surveillance network of the Ministry of Public Health was alerted.
Supported by the Panamerican Health Organization (PAHO) – Part of the World Health Organization (WHO) – this national network of personnel and resources in the field, including local epidemiology assistants and “labo -moto” health workers who visit communities on motorcycles, quickly went to action.
A “Labo Moto” health worker travel motorcycles to visit a patient.
A response team was deployed on goal to confirm that no one else in the community had been exposed to rage.
The boy’s family has been closely monitored and received post-exhibition care. The team also inspected the area where the dog and his puppies died.
The survey recommended organizing a dog vaccination campaign, strengthening surveillance and improving access to human rabies vaccines for post-exhibition treatment.
A response team was deployed on goal to confirm that no one else in the community had been exposed to rage.
The boy’s family has been closely monitored and received post-exhibition care. The team also inspected the area where the dog and his puppies died.
The survey recommended organizing a dog vaccination campaign, strengthening surveillance and improving access to human rabies vaccines for post-exhibition treatment.
A dog is vaccinated against rabies in Haiti.
Deadly, but completely avoidable
To limit the propagation of rabies in Haiti, a canine vaccination campaign was launched in August with the aim of vaccination of around 140,000 dogs, including stray and community animals, while raising awareness of prevention.
Before that, the training was given to four ministerial coordinators, seventeen communal coordinators and more than 480 veterinary auxiliary agents, which were then deployed in 240 teams in priority areas in the four departments of Artinite, Center, Nord-Ast and Nord-Youst.
A key innovation was the use of a mobile application to record vaccinated dogs, allowing the collection of real -time data, monitoring coverage and improving data quality.
“By vaccinating large -scale dogs, we directly protect human communities – especially children. It is a simple but vital action that saves lives, ”explained Dr. Oscar Bourche, the Paho / WHO representative in Haiti. “Rage is deadly, but 100% avoidable.”
Build long -term resilience
The realization of an estimated 80% vaccination coverage among the target dog population should considerably reduce the circulation of rabies virus in dogs.
The campaign also aims to increase awareness of rabies prevention and promote appropriate responses to the bites of rabid animals.
“Despite the challenges and limitations posed by the security situation and global instability in the country, we consider this vaccination campaign as an important success,” said Dr. Haïm Joseph Corvil, coordinator of the Protection Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development.
Challenge on global health
Rage remains one of the deadliest zoonotic diseases in the world – infections that can be transmitted from animals to humans.
Globally, it causes around 59,000 deaths per year, 40% of whom are children.
Through the Americas, a 98% reduction in cases of human rage transmitted by dogs was obtained, from 300 cases in 1983 to only 10 cases reported in the past year, according to PAHO.
* The name has been modified to protect the identity of the person
