Despite being preventable by a vaccine, rabies — a viral zoonotic disease — is responsible for claiming the lives of at least one person every half an hour in India and accounts for 36 percent of global rabies-related deaths each year. Though most cases often go unreported due to a lack of awareness, with prompt and appropriate medical care, these lives could have potentially been saved.
Dogs are the source of most human rabies deaths contributing up to 99 percent of all rabies transmissions to humans. In India, an increase in aggression among dogs has also been observed post-pandemic — probably resulting from food shortages, abandonment of pets, and a decrease in human–dog interaction (see map).
Over the years, Goa has taken several measures to control the fatal disease and has become the first rabies-controlled state in the country. Thanks to a decade-old campaign started by an international non-profit called Mission Rabies in collaboration with the state…