Veterinary vaccines
Rabies is a 100% vaccine-preventable disease and the implementation of vaccination campaigns in reservoir species are a key part of any rabies control programme. Current veterinary vaccine campaigns are largely focused on canine reservoirs, requiring vaccine coverage of more than 70% of the dog population to prevent rabies transmission. However, vaccines have also been developed and used in other domestic mammals and wildlife species.
Inactivated rabies vaccines are widely available for parenteral vaccination of dogs and have repeatedly been shown to result in a robust immune response in >95% of dogs. Modified live-virus vaccines had been widely used for parenteral use, but are now discouraged as several of these products have been documented to induce rabies. Nerve tissue vaccines are less immunogenic and have more severe adverse events, and as such both WHO and OIE strongly recommend discontinuation of nerve tissue vaccines and recommend their replacement with modern cell culture vaccines.
Oral rabies vaccines (ORV) are modified live-virus vaccines which have been successfully used to control rabies in wildlife reservoirs in Europe and the United States of America. Several field studies have been performed but further data are required to demonstrate the safety of ORV in target and non-target species before they are applied in wide scale dog vaccination campaigns. Parenteral vaccination should remain the primary method of immunization in accessible dogs, however ORV is a useful complementary measure in contexts where the presence of free-roaming dog populations compromise the ability of the programme to reach 70% vaccination coverage.
Further information on veterinary vaccines is available from Chapter 2.1.17, Rabies (infection with rabies virus), of the OIE Manual of diagnostic tests and vaccines for terrestrial animals.
- Vaccines for parenteral use
- Modified live-virus vaccines for oral immunization of wildlife
- Recombinant vaccines for oral immunization of wildlife
- Potency requirements
WHO requirements for rabies vaccine for veterinary use
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Rabies vaccines: WHO position paper – April 2018
Weekly epidemiological record
20 April 2018 -
WHO Expert Consultation on Rabies: WHO TRS N°1012 Third report
or OIE inactivated/live vaccines (Chap2.1.17)