Bruce Kaplan, DVM
"The World Rabies Day project represents One Health in Action in its purest way. A group of dedicated individuals from a variety of scientific disciplines work together synergistically to produce a life protecting-life saving highly efficacious effort. Years ago, as a CDC-EIS officer and later a public health activist in private practice, I promoted rabies immunization programs on TV, radio and newspapers in Louisville, KY. My friend and mentor, the late R. Keith Sikes, DVM, MPH-an imminent Rabies epidemiologist-had occasion to work with me and would be very proud [and delighted] about what his fine successors are accomplishing with this noble endeavor. Dr. Sikes would have relished the One Health (One Medicine) concept of which he devoted much of his career to."

Click here to read Dr. Kaplan's biography 

Thomas P. Monath, MD
"We should speak with One Voice on One Health! World Rabies Day is an important event, and in the request for funding I put together for the AVMA as a member of the One Health Task Force, I included the idea of One Health Challenge Days modeled after World Rabies Day, which I think was a great success."

Click here to read the One Health Task Force: Final Report (July 2008) 

Click here to read Dr. Monath's biography 

Ralph C. Richardson, DVM, Dipl ACVIM
"We are pleased that our college is in a leadership role on the World Rabies Day initiative. This is a clear example of "One Health - in action." It is rewarding to see that the funds that the students raised last year are contributing directly to community level rabies prevention programs in Peru, Guatemala, VietNam, Kenya and China. The veterinary students and our Kansas City Animal Health Corridor partners are indeed acting locally towards a global effect especially in Latin America, Africa, and Asia."

Click here to read Dr. Richardson's biography
 

Dr. Roger K. Mahr, DVM
"What is our professional value and responsibility as individuals and organizations? As part of my accomplishments as AVMA President, an interdisciplinary One Health Initiative Task Force was established and published our shared vision. It is now my fervent hope and vision that all of us engaged in the health sciences will act collaboratively upon this new professional imperative.

World Rabies Day is One Health in action. It clearly illustrates the synergistic value of One Health principles in the assessment, control, and prevention of this uniformly fatal zoonotic disease. The Student AVMA is to be commended for establishing its One Health Challenge program focusing on World Rabies Day in 2007 and 2008. Our future leaders are demonstrating a clear recognition of their value as health science professionals, and a commitment to assume their collaborative responsibility towards the benefit of our global society."

Click here to read Roger K. Mahr's biography
 

DR. George W. Beran
"The World Rabies Day initiative advocates for human rabies prevention and animal rabies control. One of the most effective means to achieve these tangible goals is through the elimination of dog-to-dog transmission of rabies. The need for this is most evident in tropical developing countries where dogs may be a valued and recognized part of the community but may not be “owned” in a manner that would provide supervision of movement in the neighborhood and address health needs such as rabies vaccination. Pilot projects by the World Health Organization identify the need for an understanding of human and dog community dynamics for successful vaccination campaigns towards elimination of canine rabies – which is clearly the greatest source of human rabies mortality throughout the world."

Click here to read George W. Beran's biography
 

Dr. Omala Wimalaratne
Consultant Virologist & Vaccinologist
Medical Research Institute Ministry of Health
Sri Lanka

RABIES PREVENTION: Advice for travelers
"People traveling to countries where Rabies is endemic should be strongly advised to take Rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis. During their stay in these countries tourists should refrain from:
1. Petting, feeding and helping unknown or stray animals including dogs and cats.
2. Taking stray animals to their countries.
If any person is exposed to a rabies suspected animal, they should seek medical advice immediately. ."
 

Dr Cristina Schneider
"The link between animal and human health was recognized in the nineteenth century by Rudolf Virchow and is prominent internationally, due to the rapid emergence of zoonotic diseases and the permanence of very old ones like rabies. Prevention of human rabies began over 100 years through the work of Louis Pasteur. In Latin America, the goal of eliminating dog - transmitted rabies to humans is nearly accomplished.
The number of human and canine cases has fallen by nearly 90%. Today, human rabies in Latin America is found in impoverished areas: cases transmitted by dogs occur in the poverty belts of mega-cities, and cases transmitted by vampire bats occur in remote areas of the Amazon.
The world is complex - biologic and non-biological factors integrate in different ways. If we wish to stop transmission of diseases, we need to have a broad vision of relevant factors. Rabies is a very good model to analyze how animals, humans, rabies virus, and the environment interact in different socio-economic and political scenarios towards the ultimate goal of human rabies prevention and animal rabies control."

Click here to read Cristina Schneider's biography
 

Dr. Peter M Rabinowitz

"Rabies is a disease that truly cuts across the disciplines of animal and human health, and that represents a huge opportunity for collaborative prevention and eradication on a worldwide scale. World Rabies Day provides a unique forum for human and animal health professionals to come together with many other interested groups around the world in order to make this happen!
I think that as you reach out to schools of veterinary medicine, students at schools of medicine and public health will also be interested in joining the World Rabies Day initiative."

James H. Steele, DVM, MPH, Professor Emeritus
Former USPHS Assistant Surgeon General
Founder, CDC Veterinary Public Health Division
University of Texas, School of Public Health
Houston, Texas

"World Rabies Day may have had its origin in CDC in the late 1940s when Joe Mountin, MD, Assistant Surgeon General, challenge me with the question, “What are you veterinarians going to do for public health now that the war is over?” I responded with problems of animal diseases affecting public health among which rabies stood out. In the next two years, with the assistance of the Rockefeller Rabies Laboratory in Montgomery, Alabama, and with the guidance of virologist Harald Johnson, MD, we inaugurated a research program for a rabies vaccine, which became known as the chick-embryo rabies vaccine. With the assistance of medical officers at CDC, we were able to hold a national rabies control program under the direction of Ernest Tierkel, VMD, MPH and Robert Kissling, DVM, MS at the rabies field station. In the next ten years, rabies vaccination program was adopted in the US and recognized internationally through the efforts of WHO and it’s supporting staff of veterinarians and physicians. Technical support was provided from CDC/USPHS to PAHO to develop rabies control in South America, Central America as well as Mexico. Programs were established in the Philippines which became a model for the Asian continent, especially Taiwan and Japan. At a later date, the CDC/USPHS assigned a veterinarian to India to help them develop a national program. The advances in human therapy of rabies exposure have been a team effort of physician, nurses, veterinarians and research scientists. The USPHS/CDC continues to be a leader in rabies control. The cooperation of medical and veterinary officers in the Public Health Service is a demonstration of the ‘One Medicine One World One Health’ success. Rabies control continues to have a world wide support from CDC/USPHS"

Dr. Robert E. Dedmon

“World Rabies Day is an outstanding example of global cooperation across professional groups dedicated to reducing the loss, pain, and suffering of this dreadful, yet preventable disease. We are indeed 'One World' in need of 'One Health'. As Marshall McLuhan put it (1965): 'There are no passengers on spaceship Earth. We are all crew!'. We are faced with many daunting challenges, such as water scarcity, disease, TB, HIV-Aids, and malaria. Those of us with medical backgrounds need to learn more about zoonoses, since these represent about 75% of emerging infectious diseases. Likewise the reverse holds true for those trained in veterinary medicine. Public health helps tie these disciplines together, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has just awarded U.S. $4.6 million to several medical schools to strengthen research and training in global public health (McLuhan's 'Global Village'). I am encouraged by the response and support for WRD. All people need to be involved-from the African child taking her cat to be vaccinated, to the Asian mother whose child has just been attacked by a stray dog, to the dedicated medical, public health and veterinary professionals, to the countless volunteers devoted to making our world a better place, to leaders like Margaret Chan of WHO and those at the WHO Collaborating Centers, to the many humane and animal welfare societies, to the political leaders responsible for the health of their countries and world, and to others providing infrastructure support for the control and eradication of rabies! My hat is off to all such people-Keep up the Good Work!

Dr Jakob Zinsstag
"Zoonoses and Rabies in particular are among the most important animal and public health problems that affect the well-being of societies worldwide, yet they are too often forgotten or neglected. Because most zoonoses go unrecorded, they call for a rethinking of research and control efforts and the economic consequences. Our work shows that Rabies elimination in Africa is possible and cost-effective but cannot be borne by poor households alone.
Creating a new global finance facility for the control of zoonoses, similar to or linked with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, is timely, is of global interest, and represents a further contribution to successful attainment of the Millennium Development Goals".
Adapted from Emerging Infectious Diseases . www.cdc.gov/eid . Vol. 13, No.
4, April 2007, 527-531.

Click here to read Jakob Zinsstag's biography
 

Lisa Conti, DVM, MPH, Dipl ACVPM, CEHP, CPM
"From a One Health perspective, controlling rabies infection is an excellent example of the power of human, veterinary and public health communities joining forces to address a common issue. The historic strides in successful canine vaccination campaigns resulted in elimination of canine rabies virus strain in the United States and drastically decreased human cases of rabies. Yet the global view, with tens of thousands of human cases, stresses the urgency with which our work must continue. World Rabies Day is an excellent opportunity to increase the understanding of the necessity for this work and I commend the organizers of this Day as well as the tireless workers everyday on preventing and controlling this One Health disease. "

Click here to read Dr. Conti's biography 

Dr B J Mahendra
"Rabies can aptly be described as an "orphaned" disease affecting "orphaned populations". Fortunately a group of committed individuals have succeeded to refocus the necessary attention on this dreaded disease. The Alliance for Rabies Control has after a long time provided an interface for both Medical and Veterinary professionals and also provided a platform in the form of the World Rabies Day, I am sure this will go a long way in tackling the problem of rabies. The activities undertaken as a part of the WRD are indicative of the interest that is there among the professionals and even the public. What was probably lacking was a catalyst to get it all going, and ARC has occupied this place. Dr D Briggs has always said "Awareness is the key to the success of rabies prevention". The WRD activities have essentially focused in this direction and with the kind of response this initiative has seen success cannot be very far. I sincerely thank all those involved and wish all partners and stake holders all success in the noble venture of planning the end of rabies."

Click here to read Dr Mahendra's biography
 

Professor Thomas M. Yuill
"Just because rabies causes constant mortality month after month, year after year, rather than spectacular epidemics or epizootics, does not mean that it is of little public health or economic importance. Nor does the fact that people and animals in developing countries pay the heaviest price for rabies mean that those of us living in the developed world, where rabies cases are relatively uncommon, can be indifferent to this disease. Dealing with rabies in complex ecosystems around the world requires a team effort encompassing a breadth of expertise in a variety of disciplines. World rabies day provides us with a reminder of what needs to be done. If we relax our guard rabies will be back in the developed countries. If we do not extend our interdisciplinary expertise to work collaboratively with colleagues in developing countries, their human and animal populations will continue to pay an unnecessary price for living with rabies. "

Click here to read Dr. Yuill's biography 

Dr Louis H Nel
" Like elsewhere in the developing world, there are a number of key factors that contribute to the ongoing and increasing scourge of rabies in Africa. These factors are largely interrelated and include:

• Poverty, urbanization, informal settlements together with large dog populations that are uncontrolled.
• Logistical/infrastructural and financial constraints with competing public and veterinary health priorities.
• Lack of education, information, awareness, good diagnostics and surveillance – leading to underreporting, misdiagnosis, generally poor demonstration of the burden of the disease and a status of low priority.

Click here to read Dr Nel's biography
 

Ryan Colburn, Veterinary Student, SAVMA Global and Public Health ad hoc Officer
" In a world where the majority of infectious diseases are zoonotic in nature, where the threat of bioterrorism demands vigilant monitoring of our food supply and where the bond between humans and animals has grown immeasurably stronger, it is imperative that health care professionals from all corners of the field collaborate to provide the best possible care for all of our patients, both human and animal. World Rabies Day is an excellent example of that sort of collaboration. The Student AVMA has dedicated itself to the spirit of the One Health Initiative with the creation of our One Health Challenge. In 2007 and now again in 2008, that nationwide campaign has had veterinary students from across the United States and even in Canada and the Caribbean joining forces to raise funds and awareness for World Rabies Day! The students of today truly are the leaders of tomorrow, and it has been an honor to collaborate with so many dedicated, hard working student leaders from across the country. "

Click here to read Mr. Colburn's biography 

Wanda Markotter
" Human mortality due to canine endemic rabies is estimated to be 55 000 deaths per year with around 24 200 deaths estimated to occur in Africa. To be able to obtain commitment from governments and funding organizations to control rabies in animals and prevent the disease in humans, awareness of the rabies problem must be created. World Rabies Day creates an opportunity for everyone all over the world to get involved in creating awareness. Most human cases in less developed countries occur because of canine rabies and death occurs mainly due to a lack of access to biological agents for PEP and/or poor recognition of the disease and awareness of treatment protocols. Creating awareness in communities of the risk of contracting rabies and what to do if an exposure occurs can ultimately save people’s lives. "

Click here to read Mrs Markotter's biography
 

Rebecca Steers DVM candidate (2010),SAVMA National President-elect
" The World Rabies Day initiative provides an excellent, interdisciplinary example of people working together to improve understanding as well as the quality of care for humans and animals alike. With a globalized economy and increased intercontinental travel, we are faced with challenges and opportunities. Diseases spread and then pose a great threat to public health and world agriculture. It is imperative that we take this opportunity to improve our communication as well as our personal and public education.
That is why I feel priviledged to be a part of the Student American Veterinary Medical Association (SAVMA). In March of 2007, I attended my first meeting with SAVMA and the World Rabies Day presentation was a highlight for me. SAVMA has taken the One Health concept and put it into action by championing World Rabies Day as a part of the SAVMA One Health Challenge two years in a row. In 2007, students participated by educating the public, providing vaccine clinics and raising funds for future education and outreach projects. The student-planned events for World Rabies Day 2008 promise to continue the variety and far-reaching effects of One Health. "

Click here to read Mrs. Steers' biography 

Dr. Naseem Salahuddin
" My interest in rabies prevention began in the ‘90s after I observed patients dying from this fatal disease. These deaths continue today and they are preventable. Observing them strengthened my motivation to spread awareness throughout the country. I have conducted numerous lectures and workshops on post exposure prophylaxis, and many public awareness programs on radio, television and print media. I have coordinated the production of a docudrama in the local language Urdu for children, led walks for rabies awareness, and written a guideline booklet for PEP, distributed awareness flyers by tens of thousands all over the country. I strongly advocated against use of the obsolete sheep brain vaccine from the national laboratory because of high adverse effects and instead the use of modern cell culture vaccines. Much more needs to be done. The World Rabies Day initiative helps raise awareness about the possibility of fully successful human rabies prevention and control of the main source of rabies exposure from dogs, both locally and globally. "

Click here to read Dr. Salahuddin's biography
 

Justin Sobota, MS, DVM
" The creation of the One Health Challenge in support of World Rabies Day reflects the new generation of health professionals’ desire to act at the local level in order to affect our global health. The One Health definition, established by the paraprofessional One Health task force, recognizes the confluence of environmental, animal, and human interactions. The monumental amount of energy amongst the paraprofessional health team recognizes that there is no more important disease to begin educating and developing our efforts than rabies.
World Rabies Day is a testimonial to the One Health concept. Our cooperative efforts are infiltrating the larger communities throughout the world and continuing to reduce cases of preventable rabies. World Rabies Day provides an opportunity for the human spirit to significantly impact the lives of others in a positive way. SAVMA is pleased to be a contributing member of the international effort to eradicate rabies. "

Click here to read Mr. Sobota's biography 

Dr. Michael J. Blackwell
" The World Rabies Day initiative is an excellent example of "One Health" where controlling diseases in animals results in direct benefits to human health. The risk of rabies exposure is global because increasingly humans interface with animal habitats, animals migrate, and bats, even though ecologically valuable, sometimes transmit rabies – and they fly. Human rabies is entirely preventable. Its occurrence today is due to a lack of education about prevention and lack of access to appropriate medical care. The highest incidences of human rabies occur where there is inadequate access to education and healthcare. Moreover, the main source of human rabies is uncontrolled transmission in dogs. Veterinarians and other health care professionals as well as public health officials must work together towards the attainable goal of human rabies prevention and animal rabies control. Through their exemplary student body participation, the students of my alma mater, the School of Veterinary Medicine at Tuskegee University, are leading the way in World Rabies Day among North American veterinary schools. I am very proud of their accomplishments. "

Click here to read Dr. Blackwell's biography
 

Dr. Sudhi Ranjan Garg, B.V.Sc. & A.H., M.V.Sc., Ph.D., FIAVPHS
" Rabies is mainly a problem of the developing countries in Asia and Africa. It is estimated that rabies kills more than 20,000 persons annually in India alone, which accounts for 36% of the global human rabies burden. The disease is 100% preventable, yet people become victims due to the prevailing ignorance, poverty and insufficient resources. Dogs are mainly responsible for rabies in India. The estimated dog population in the country is 27 million, most of which are not owned by any individual but are “community dogs.” There are 17.4 million cases of animal bites in the country every year, of which more than 96% are due to dogs. Through the World Rabies Day initiative, local and global veterinary-medical resources need to be applied on priority in a more concerted manner in India and other developing countries to combat the disease more vigorously. "

Click here to read Dr. Garg's biography 

Laura H. Kahn, MD, MPH, MPP, FACP
"The emergence of new infectious diseases is among the most dramatic unintended consequences of globalization and human manipulation of the environment. Over 70% of these diseases are zoonotic meaning that they spread from animals to humans. The concept of One Health, is an idea that human and animal health are inextricably linked and that a unified multi-disciplinary approach is needed to address the challenges of the 21st century. One Health is inherently interdisciplinary spanning fields such as international trade, ecology, and molecular biology. The World Rabies Day initiative is an excellent example of how the One Health concept can be implemented."

Click here to read Dr. Kahn's biography