RABIES

Bali 2008-2010

In November 2008, rabies was 1st detected within the southernmost peninsula of Bali and then spread throughout the province by June 2010. About 137 humans have died of rabies in Bali since it was 1st introduced in 2008. The outbreak was initially responded to with mass killing of dogs. About 108 000 dogs were killed between 2008 and October 2010. Later, an island-wide mass dog vaccination campaign was commenced in October 2010 and completed in March 2011 (phase 1) under close coordination of the Bali provincial government together with the Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA), the Bali Street Dog Fund Australia and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA).
During phase I, approximately 210 000 dogs have been vaccinated (70 percent of the Bali dog population). Mass dog vaccination was initially implemented with 6 teams of 50 personnel each to catch and vaccinate dogs, and later expanded to 52 teams with 420 trained personnel. There was a 48 percent reduction of human rabies cases in Bali in the 1st 3 month of 2011 Rabid dog cases have also declined with a report of about 11 cases per month during and after the campaign compared with about 45 cases per month before the campaign. The 2nd phase of the island-wide campaign started in May 2011 and was completed in October 2011. Bali plans to eliminate rabies by 2015.