World Rabies Day 2025: A One Health Approach

Protecting Dogs, Community, and Macaques

Rabies is a deadly viral disease that causes tens of thousands of human deaths each year, especially in Asia. However, rabies is almost entirely preventable when the primary host, dogs, are vaccinated and when exposed humans receive appropriate post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Dogs are responsible for more than 99% of human rabies cases globally, making them the primary focus of vaccination and disease control campaigns. Cats, while less commonly implicated, can also carry the virus, highlighting the importance of responsible vaccination and population management.

Rabies vaccination continues to be a routine program in Bali, Indonesia (Source: Antara News)

Why Protecting Dogs Protects Everyone

Vaccinating dogs is the most effective strategy to prevent human rabies. Mass vaccination that covers at least 70% of the dog population is necessary to achieve herd immunity, which in turn interrupts rabies transmission cycles. 

When dogs are protected, humans are safer, and wildlife, including macaques and bats, are also indirectly safeguarded. By reducing rabies transmission among domestic animals, we prevent spillover into other species and reinforce the One Health principle, which recognizes the interconnected health of humans, animals, and ecosystems.

Dog Health Champion campaign to celebrate and support World Rabies Day

World Rabies Day 2025: Campaigns, Education, and Community Engagement

This year, the AfA Dog & Cat Coalition (DACC) partnered with Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) to launch the Dog Health Champion campaign to celebrate and support World Rabies Day.

This year’s World Rabies Day theme, “Act Now: You, Me, Community”, reminds us that each of us has a role to play in eliminating rabies and that real change happens when we collectively work together. The campaign is open to everyone, whether you're a community member, animal lover, advocate, or professional.

By becoming a Dog Health Champion, you’ll gain the knowledge to educate others about rabies prevention and raise awareness in your community!

Alongside this campaign, GARC led several activities worldwide, including:

• Community workshops promoting vaccination and responsible pet ownership

• School outreach programs to educate children on rabies prevention

• Social media campaigns raising awareness of dog vaccination and humane population management

  
  

Tying education to action, the campaign also emphasizes Catch-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (CNVR) programs for free-roaming dogs, which stabilize populations, reduce aggressive interactions, and enhance the effectiveness of vaccination campaigns. By protecting dogs through vaccination and humane population management, communities are protecting themselves and wildlife like macaques, even if these species are not the primary rabies hosts.

Macaques and Rabies: Evidence-Based Perspective

Macaques are highly adaptable primates, capable of living in forests, urban areas, and close to human settlements. While they can theoretically become infected with rabies, actual cases in humans transmitted by macaques are extremely rare.

For example, in Bali, rabies cases are overwhelmingly linked to dogs, not macaques. The failure to vaccinate dogs remains the real threat to both humans and wildlife.

Expert veterinarians and animal care professionals in the AfA Macaque Health Subgroup emphasize:

• Macaques should never be kept as pets.

• People should not feed wild macaques or approach them closely.

• Public messaging about macaques should avoid creating fear, which can harm conservation efforts and human-macaque coexistence

  
  

Key message: Protecting dogs through high-coverage vaccination and humane dog population management is the most effective way to safeguard humans, domestic animals, and macaques from rabies.

Responsible Communication and Coexistence

Macaque bites, even when not rabid, can influence public perception and make conflict mitigation harder. Measures such as waste management, discouraging feeding, and maintaining respectful distance with macaques/wildlife are far more effective than fear-based campaigns.

Campaigns like WRD 2025 highlight the importance of evidence-based messaging:

• Vaccinate dogs and cats to stop rabies transmissions to humans at its source.

• Do not keep macaques as pets and respect their natural behaviors and habitats.

• Respect wildlife and minimize unnecessary contact to prevent accidental bites and disease transmission.

• Support community programs and One Health initiatives that integrate education, vaccination, and conflict mitigation.

Regional Success Examples

• Goa, India: 63,000 dogs vaccinated in 30 days, significantly reducing rabies risk 

• Cambodia: 229,488 dogs vaccinated in two weeks through community engagement 

• In Greater Bangkok, Thailand, a five-year CNVR program has successfully reduced the density of free-roaming dogs, decreased dog rabies cases, and improved the relationship between humans and dogs.

• Mass canine vaccination programs have proven effective in Bali. Notably, significant progress was made in controlling rabies following its introduction to Bali in November 2008, owing to collaborative efforts between key political and health organizations and the Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA). From October 2010 to April 2011, over 70% of dogs were vaccinated in most banjars across the island, leading to a remarkable 70-80% reduction in human and canine rabies cases. 

Conclusion

World Rabies Day 2025 demonstrates that protecting dogs protects everyone: humans, pets, and wildlife. Vaccination, TNR, education, and One Health approaches are critical.

Macaques are low-risk rabies hosts, but responsible messaging, never keeping them as pets, and promoting humane coexistence are essential. By combining evidence-based communication with community action, WRD campaigns can save lives, protect animals, and support long-term conservation efforts.

This blog is a collaboration between the Macaque Health Subgroup (Macaque Coalition)  and the Dog & Cat Coalition (DACC) of the Asia for Animals Coalition. It is intended for public awareness and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. If you are bitten or scratched by any animal, please seek immediate attention from a local clinic, veterinarian, or public health authority.

Reference:

• Coetzer, A. et al. (2019). A novel integrated and labile eHealth system for monitoring dog rabies vaccination campaigns. Vaccines, 7(3), 108. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines7030108

• DVM360. (2023, Sept 28). Campaign to combat rabies in Asia reports nearly 230,000 dogs vaccinated. https://www.dvm360.com/view/campaign-to-combat-rabies-in-asia-reports-nearly-230k-dogs-vaccinated

• Gautret, P. et al. (2014). Rabies in nonhuman primates and potential for transmission to humans: A literature review. PLOS Negl Trop Dis, 8(5), e2863. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002863

• Hampson, K. et al. (2015). Estimating the global burden of endemic canine rabies. PLOS Negl Trop Dis, 9(4), e0003709. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003709

• Hiby, E. et al. (2023). Impact assessment of free-roaming dog population management by CNVR in Greater Bangkok. Animals, 13(11), 1726. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13111726

• Purwo Suseno, P. et al. (2019). Lessons for rabies control and elimination programmes: A decade of One Health experience from Bali, Indonesia. Rev Sci Tech, 38(1), 213–224. https://doi.org/10.20506/rst.38.1.2954

• Riley, E.P (2007), The Human–Macaque Interface: Conservation Implications of Current and Future Overlap and Conflict in Lore Lindu National Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia. American Anthropologist, 109: 473-484. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2007.109.3.473

• Times of India. (2024, Feb 21). How Goa managed to tame rabies: Inside the state’s drive that vaccinated 63,000 dogs in 30 days. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/how-goa-managed-to-tame-rabies-inside-states-drive-that-vaccinated-63000-dogs-in-30-days/articleshow/123328961.cms

• World Health Organization. (2023). Rabies: Fact sheet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies