Science: Inside the global campaign to get rid of rabies

PULLMAN, Wash. – Rabies vaccine work by professors Thumbi Mwangi and Felix Lankester to address the problem of infectious diseases crossing borders in Kenya, Tanzania and throughout Africa is part of a comprehensive article in the recent issue of Science magazine.

Specific to rabies, achieving the high vaccination coverage required for elimination in one country will be unsuccessful if unvaccinated dogs enter from villages in a neighboring country.

“The day we have fully eliminated rabies in Kenya, we will start to get incursions” from neighboring countries, said Mwangi, a veterinary epidemiologist at Washington State University and an adviser to Kenya’s Zoonotic Disease Unit.

Ultimately, Africa will need to develop the kind of regional cooperation that has worked well in Latin America, the article states – not only to eliminate rabies but also to establish policies that can be broadly applied to other transboundary diseases.

In addition, Lankester’s research findings that the rabies vaccine can be kept at warmer temperatures for longer than previously thought are part of the Science article. This holds the potential for remote communities to keep vaccines on hand and immunize their dogs themselves.

“It could be transformative,” said Lankester, director of the Serengeti Health Initiative.

Both professors are part of the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health at WSU. Find the Science article at http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/01/inside-global-campaign-get-rid-rabies.

 

Next Story

Recent News

Desire to improve food safety leads Afghan student to WSU

Barakatullah Mohammadi saw firsthand the effects of food borne illnesses growing up in Afghanistan. Now a WSU graduate student, he will receive a prestigious national food and agriculture research fellowship.

Elk hoof disease likely causes systemic changes

Elk treponeme-associated hoof disease, previously thought to be limited to deformations in elks’ hooves, appears to create molecular changes throughout the animal’s system, according to WSU epigenetic research.

College of Education professor receives Fulbright award

Margaret Vaughn will spend three weeks in Vienna, Austria where she will work with a research team discussing student agency and the role of adaptability in classroom learning environments.