Mission Rabies USA Inc

Rabies is one of the world’s mostly deadly diseases. It is a devastating virus which enters the body via its nerves, and travels to the brain. Once symptoms develop, there is no treatment, and it is fatal.

Most South American countries which have implemented mass vaccination campaigns are now rabies-free; Bolivia is sadly a notable exception. The country is still carrying the burden of this horrible disease, despite current government-led vaccination campaigns. The Bolivian Ministry of Health reported an alarming increase in canine rabies cases, from 234 in 2016 to 803 the following year, an increase of 240%. The actual number of cases is likely to be even higher, because so many cases are unreported.

In November 2018 we completed a ten day recce to Cochabamba, a city in central Bolivia, to gather information on rabies and its debilitating impact on communities in this area. During this time we came face-to-face with a rabies contact case in the community of Primero de Mayo, reiterating the very real presence of rabies in the area.

We learned that awareness of the disease in this area is incredibly low, and there is no clear record of which dogs have received a vaccination. Moreover, there is an unreliable supply of the human vaccine needed to protect people if they are exposed to the virus. It is essential to implement a more effective canine vaccination campaign in this region, to reduce the chances of dying from this cruel disease.

In collaboration with municipal and district-level government stakeholders, we have identified the area in and around the Cochabamba district municipality as the site to begin our work in Bolivia.

We will run an initial pilot project between March and April 2020 to prove the effectiveness of our methods. An initial pilot allows us to test our methods in the district and adapt our model to this regional setting, ensuring our larger project will run smoothly.

Following the pilot, we will scale-up and expand our project later in the year, in conjunction with the pre-existing national campaign taking place in August. This collaboration will work to support the government in improving the efficacy of their campaign, as well as expand it beyond urban centers into rural areas the government currently can’t reach, and where rabies is a pressing issue.

When we start a new project area, we divide the terrain into zones and plan activities using maps, to designate demarcated areas to specific teams.
The education teams visit schools first, to raise awareness about upcoming vaccination drives. Then, vaccination teams start the vaccination drive. Team members carry smartphones and use our unique mobile application, which directs them on path trackers, ensuring the whole area is covered. We use a combination of temporary clinics for owned dogs, and teams of dog catchers for stray dogs. This makes sure as many dogs as possible are vaccinated, and that even remote locations are included. Once vaccinated, dogs are marked with animal-friendly paint, and each dog is recorded into our app to track GPS location, age, gender, and health status.

Alongside our vaccination drive, our education teams deliver life-saving information to the community. Children make up the majority of rabies victims, so we focus our education campaign mainly on schools. We deliver lessons and provide a teachers pack, lesson plans and worksheets for each class, and use resources such as videos, props and flashcards. We use the mobile app to record information about each school visit, including location and number of students and teachers reached.