Epidemiology of Human Rabies in Thailand, B.E.2546-2550 (2003-2007 AD)

In Thailand, rabies remains an important zoonotic disease due to its lethality in  humans. Although the numbers of human rabies cases have been steadily decreasing over the past ten years, the epidemiological situation has started to change. Assessment of human rabies was based on the national infectious disease surveillance system from B.E. 2546-2550. There were 106 cumulative cases distributed in all four regions of Thailand. The highest mortality rates were found in the Central and Southern regions. Dogs were the main reservoir with the highest percentage found in puppies younger than 3 months (45%). Most of the causal dogs, and 61% of the dogs with owners had not received Rabies vaccination each year. The data strongly revealed that most of the human rabies cases did not receive rabies vaccine after the animal contact or bite. Prevention and control strategies should focus especially on the regions and provinces which had the highest number of cases, or on those regions which continue to have incident cases each year. It is also essential to set up a better control of the animal population which can potentially infect humans.