Rabies Elimination in Nigeria: leveraging proven strategies.

Rabies in Nigeria has remained an endemic disease ever since its first case in 1912. Though several prevention and control programs have been done to see to its elimination, rabies continues to thrive in Nigeria with about 1640 human rabies cases recorded annually. As Nigeria continues to struggle with rabies elimination, certain countries like Jamaica, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Hawaii, and Belgium have completely eradicated rabies and are considered rabies-free. Hence, to successfully eliminate rabies, Nigeria needs to take lessons from these rabies-free countries and put into action all that they did to achieve this feat. Achieving herd immunity through the vaccination of 70% of the dog population is a potent way to ensure the elimination of rabies. To scale up dog vaccination in Nigeria, Nigerian lawmakers need to come up with a law similar to Japan’s Rabies Prevention Act, that binds all dog owners to the compulsory registration and vaccination of their dogs in a veterinary hospital such that disobeying comes with a punishment. Also, philanthropic organizations in Nigeria need to invest in the production of these PEPs by pharmaceutical companies. In ensuring a perfectly functional quarantine station, the government needs to employ more qualified and licensed veterinarians in accordance with Article 3.2.5 of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code which states that “there should not be an over-reliance on veterinary paraprofessionals but qualified experienced field veterinarians should be employed to conduct disease monitoring”.