World Rabies Day
Next: September 28, 2027
A disease we can end, one vaccinated dog at a time.
The story
Where it comes from
World Rabies Day was launched in 2007 by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, with the WHO and animal-health bodies. The date is the anniversary of the death of Louis Pasteur, who developed the first rabies vaccine in 1885.
How it's celebrated
Mass dog-vaccination drives, especially in Asia and Africa where almost all human deaths occur; school education on avoiding bites and washing wounds; free clinics run by vets and NGOs.
Did you know
- Rabies kills around 59,000 people a year, about 40 per cent of them children, yet it is almost 100 per cent preventable by vaccinating dogs.
- Pasteur's first patient, nine-year-old Joseph Meister, had been bitten by a rabid dog; he survived and later worked as a caretaker at the Pasteur Institute.
- The WHO target is zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.
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- International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste · September 29, 2027
- International Translation Day · September 30, 2027
- World Maritime Day · September 30, 2027
- National Day of the People's Republic of China · October 1, 2027
- International Coffee Day · October 1, 2027