Last July, in the remote locality of Butête, in southern Haiti, nine-year-old Jonas* lost his life to rabies.
When a stray dog bit the boy on the leg, the wound seemed minor. Like many families living far from any health facilities, his mother was unaware that immediate care was critical.
Within a week, the child began to feel weak and refused to eat. By the time he reached the nearest hospital, he had started showing the unmistakable symptoms of the rabies virus, including excruciating muscle spasms and hydrophobia, the fear of water.
A PAHO health worker prepares a rabies vaccination.
Not long after, Jonas died surrounded by his family.
He is the most recent victim of this deadly, but wholly preventable disease that has already claimed four lives this year in the Caribbean island nation, which is dealing with a multitude of crises, including political, economic and political instability as well as acute poverty and lack of access to health services.
Data collected between 2022 and 2024 in Haiti shows the rabies virus continues to pose a serious threat to public health where more than 8,000 suspected cases in dogs were investigated.
Of these, over 1,100 cases were considered probable and 46 were confirmed in a laboratory.
During the same period, there were 24 suspected human cases probably caused by a dog bite, with eight confirmed deaths.
Surveillance, investigation and response
As soon as Jonas was admitted to the hospital, the Ministry of Public Health’s National Surveillance Network was alerted.
Supported by the Panamerican Health Organization (PAHO) – a part of the World Health Organization (WHO) – this nationwide network of field staff and resources, including locally-based epidemiology assistants and ‘labo-moto’ health workers who visit communities on motorbikes, swiftly swung into action.
A ‘labo moto’ health worker travels by motorbike to visit a patient.
A response team was deployed to Butête to confirm that no one else in the community had been exposed to rabies.
The boy’s family was closely monitored and received post exposure care. The team also inspected the area where the dog and her puppies had died.
The investigation recommended organising a dog vaccination campaign, strengthening surveillance, and improving access to human rabies vaccines for post-exposure treatment.
A response team was deployed to Butête to confirm that no one else in the community had been exposed to rabies.
The boy’s family was closely monitored and received post exposure care. The team also inspected the area where the dog and her puppies had died.
The investigation recommended organising a dog vaccination campaign, strengthening surveillance, and improving access to human rabies vaccines for post-exposure treatment.
A dog is vaccinated against rabies in Haiti.
Lethal, but totally preventable
To curb the spread of rabies in Haiti, a canine vaccination campaign was launched in August with the goal of vaccinating around 140,000 dogs, including stray and community animals, while also raising public awareness on prevention.
Ahead of this, training was provided to four departmental coordinators, seventeen communal coordinators, and more than 480 veterinary auxiliary agents, who were later deployed in 240 teams across priority areas in the four departments of Artibonite, Centre, Nord-Est, and Nord-Ouest.
A key innovation was the use of a mobile app to register vaccinated dogs, allowing real-time data collection, coverage monitoring, and improved data quality.
“By vaccinating dogs on a large scale, we directly protect human communities – especially children. It’s a simple but vital action that saves lives,” explained Dr. Oscar Barreneche, the PAHO/WHO representative in Haiti. “Rabies is lethal, but 100 per cent preventable.”
Building long-term resilience
Achieving an estimated 80 per cent vaccination coverage among the target dog population is expected to significantly reduce rabies virus circulation in dogs.
The campaign also aims to heighten awareness of rabies prevention and promote appropriate responses to bites from suspected rabid animals.
“Despite the challenges and limitations posed by the security situation and the overall instability in the country, we consider this vaccination campaign a significant success,” said Dr Haïm Joseph Corvil, Protection Unit Coordinator at Haiti’s Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development.
Global health challenge
Rabies remains one of the world’s deadliest zoonotic diseases – infections which can be transmitted from animals to humans.
Globally, it causes an estimated 59,000 deaths annually, 40 per cent of which are children.
Across the Americas, a 98 per cent reduction in cases of human rabies transmitted by dogs has been achieved, dropping from 300 cases in 1983 to just 10 cases reported over the past year, according to PAHO.
* the name has been changed to protect the person’s identity
