Rabies threatens as a preventable viral disease - suggested as a rightful intervention

Sep 29, 2026

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Letter to the Editor argues that human rabies is preventable despite persistent control barriers and proposes a one-health approach as a rightful intervention. It cites WHO notification to Timor-Leste in May 2025, including confirmed fatal cases linked to dog bites and laboratory detection by RT-PCR and molecular profiling. The letter explains rabies transmission, incubation and clinical phases, and viral neuroinvasion, emphasizing neglected tropical disease status and insufficient global awareness and funding.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Letter to the Editor

Public health notification and laboratory confirmation

Transmission routes and neglected tropical disease context

Incubation period and clinical phases

Viral pathogenesis and neuroinvasion

Letter to the Editor # Rabies threatens as a preventable viral diseasewith persistent control barriers: one healthapproach suggested as a rightful intervention Subrat Kumar, PhDa , Ritesh Pattnaik, PhDa , Snehasish Mishra, PhDa , Aurobinda Rout, MScb ,Ranjan K. Mohapatra, PhDc,*, Lawrence Sena Tuglo, MPHd ,* The World Health Organization (WHO) was notified on 17 May 2025 by the government of Timor-Leste (East Timor,a South East Asian nation) about fatal human rabies. Fourhuman rabies deaths were confirmed, all being exposed tocanine (dog) bites months before the onset of symptoms [1] .Rabies virus (RV) RNA was detected when the gene wassequenced through RT-PCR and molecular profiling done.Rabies infection in mammals is zoonotically transmittedthrough canine bites. Its spillover (animal–human transmission)occurs primarily through the exposure to saliva of a rabidanimal[2] . While almost all mammalian species are technicallyrabies carriers/reservoirs, but the virus is often encountered inbats, coyotes, dogs, foxes, jackals, mongooses, raccoons,skunks, and wolves too. Of these, 99% of the rabies cases inhumans are due to dogs[3] . Being a neglected tropical disease(NTD) as declared by the UN (WHO), obviously discussions inglobal fora are limited and so also little awareness among thegeneral public. Global stakeholders and policy-makers often areunaware about this contagious lethal disease. Thus, the fundingrequirements to devise countermeasures and eradication strate -gies for rabies are lacking, especially in the resource-compro -mised under-developed nations where the disease is relativelymore prevalent. The WHO has placed rabies under the list of the 21 identified NTDs because of its public health significance, and aSchool of Biotechnology, KIIT Deemed-to-be University, Bhubaneswar, India,bSchool of Applied Sciences, KIIT Deemed-to-be University, Bhubaneswar, India,cDepartment of Chemistry, Government College of Engineering, Keonjhar, India anddInfectious Disease Epidemiology Group, Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Researchin Tropical Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology,Kumasi, Ghana Subrat Kumarand Snehasish Mishra contributed equally and are co-first authors.Sponsorships or competing interests that maybe relevant to content are disclosedatthe end of this article. *Corresponding authors. Address: Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research inTropical Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi,Ghana. Tel.: +233 204741218. E-mail: senatuglo@gmail.com (L.S. Tuglo); Departmentof Chemistry, Government College of Engineering, Keonjhar 758002, Odisha, India.Tel.: +91 7008666708. E-mail: ranjank_mohapatra@yahoo.com (R.K. Mohapatra).Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. This is anopen access article distributed under the terms of the Creative CommonsAttribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where itispermissible to download and share the work provided itis properly cited. The workcannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from thejournal. Annals of Medicine & Surgery (2026) 88:947–950Received 23 October 2025; Accepted 27 October 2025Published online 18 November 2025http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MS9.0000000000004281 provides support to enhance global access to rabies prevention,control and elimination/eradication interventions through poli -ciesand strategies[4] . The authors have ensured that the articlecomplied with the TITAN Guidelines 2025 – governing thedeclaration and use of AI[5] . Rabies incubates for a variable period, varying from a week toa year and may last for 2–3 months on an average[6,7] . Shorterincubation period was also noticed especially when the biteoccurred on the head instead of extremities. Rabies exhibitsfive clinical phases: (1) incubation, (2) prodrome, (3) acuteneurological signs, (4) coma, and (5) death. The death of thesubject invariably occurs within 7–10 da

FAQs

What recent public health event is referenced in the letter?

WHO was notified by the government of Timor-Leste (East Timor) on 17 May 2025 about fatal human rabies cases, with deaths confirmed after prior exposure to canine bites.

How does the letter describe rabies transmission from animals to humans?

Rabies is described as zoonotically transmitted through canine bites, with spillover occurring primarily via exposure to saliva from a rabid animal.

What are the clinical phases of rabies mentioned in the letter?

The letter lists five phases: incubation, prodrome, acute neurological signs, coma, and death, with death occurring within 7–10 days after clinical manifestation.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by nayy☆