Rabies in Thailand

Summary

Rabies is still an unresolved public health problem in Thailand. Approximately 300 cases of human rabies have been reported annually (Table 1) [1]. This number, however, is generally accepted to be under recorded. Half of the patients are below 15 years of age (Table 2). Rabies deaths have been reported all year round with slight increment in number during summer. For post-exposure prophylaxis against rabies, each year, about 80,000 people are treated at the health authority services throughout the country [2]. An unestimated number of patients have visited private clinics for the same purposes without any record. About 50% of the patients live in the central plains of Thailand (Table 3) [3].

In this country, domestic dogs are the main principle vectors (97%) in transmitting the infection to man, with cats accounting for 1% to 2%; the other vectors include non-human primates, rodents and wildlife animals (Tables 4, 5) [4]. Although bats have been reported to harbour rabies viruses, to date there is no confirmation concerning the transmission of bat rabies (Table 6) [5]. Many studies have been conducted to show the prevalent rate of dog-rabies in large cities. Rabies virus antigen and rabies antibody have been found 0 to 3% and 15% to 19% in stray dogs, respectively (Tables 7, 8) [6]. Unowned dogs are stray everywhere in the Bangkok Metropolis, especially in the temples. The estimated numbers of the owned dog-and cat-population in Bangkok based on sampling surveys are about 800,000 to 900,000 for each, and the total number of pet dogs in the whole country is about 10,000,000 [7, 8].