Today, Ifakara Health Institute kick starts a mass dog vaccination campaign against rabies in Tabora. The event is held at Cheyo ward in Tabora Municipality.

This is a week-long activity implemented by Ifakara scientists from the rabies research group designed to control rabies in the region. 

During that period, dog owners in Tabora  are encouraged to participate in the campaign by getting their dogs vaccinated at nearby offices of the ward and local executive officers.

Ahead of the event, Dr. Sambo Maganga a research scientist at Ifakara implementing the campaign said, “Mass dog vaccination against rabies is considered one of the most effective methods at preventing deaths from rabies and is a critical component in the strategy to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies in Tanzania by 2030.”

In Tanzania, rabies causes an estimated 552 human deaths annually and at least 98% of these deaths are attributable to rabid domestic dogs. 

According to Dr. Sambo, recent research findings from northern Tanzania show that rabies has a surprisingly low transmission rate with predictions showing that modest vaccination coverage maintained through repeated vaccination campaigns could lead to rabies elimination even in high-density domestic dog populations and in communities close to large populations of wild carnivores.