Against a backdrop of war, rabies in Ukraine is on the rise.
Amid ongoing conflict, Ukraine faces another silent and deadly threat: rabies. When people abandoned their homes at the onset of the war, many were forced to leave their animals behind to fend for themselves.
According to Olya Vasylyshyn, a veterinary student from Kyiv and member of the nongovernmental organization ZooPatrol Ukraine: “Over a million dogs are homeless, and the longer they are left to fend for themselves the more feral they are getting. We rescue, treat, rehabilitate and rehome cats and dogs.”.
When food is scarce, dogs form packs and hunt together, increasing the competition for food and elevating the risk of conflict between animals and humans. In addition, agricultural land lies fallow, allowing rodent numbers to increase. This makes them an appealing food source for foxes, dogs and cats; in turn, these populations also are on the rise. Until relatively recently, Ukraine implemented a successful oral rabies campaign for fox populations and regular rabies vaccination campaigns for domestic animals. However, current circumstances have caused vaccine coverage to fall and immunization protection in animals has been waning fast. Cats also seem to currently play an unusually significant role in the epidemiology of rabies in Ukraine.
Throughout 2023, according to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the country has seen a significant increase in the number of human bites from both domestic and wild animals, as well as laboratory-confirmed cases of rabies in animals. The number of emergency rabies prophylaxis treatments administered to victims has surged by more than 40% over the past 9 months.
In response, the Ukrainian authorities requested the World Health Organization (WHO) to convene a multistakeholder rabies conference to map out a way forward for the control of rabies. The conference, held on 18-19 October in Lviv, Ukraine, was organized by WHO in cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Public Health Center, the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) with the financial support of the Government of Germany.
Oleksandr Revnivtsev, National Survey Coordinator, FAO, commented: “WHO and FAO, two very active organizations assisting Ukraine today, have joined forces in the fight against rabies.”
Representatives from the Ukrainian Oblast Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the regional-level State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, , regional departments of health, primary health care facilities, the State forestry agency, NGOs on veterinary practice, hunting, and evacuation of animals, medical and veterinary universities, civil society and international experts and partners participated.
Participation was overwhelming with over 120 individuals in the room and 250 attending virtually.
Olena Kuriata, One Health Officer, WHO Country Office in Ukraine, added: “This conference has demonstrated why the One Health approach is so important when dealing with threats such as rabies. The participants have mapped out that one of the first things to follow up on is to improve mechanisms and legislation for cross-sectoral collaboration among the human, animal health and wildlife sectors.”
As a follow-up, the group agreed that improved animal population management, especially of wild and free-roaming domestic animals, was urgent.
With a change in the evolving epidemiological situation, it is evident that there is a need for improved data and surveillance that can also inform community awareness.
Katinka de Balogh, WHO Consultant on rabies, reflected: “Nowadays, so many parts of the world are in conflict. Ukraine sets the example by addressing rabies in a difficult and complex context. I wish Ukraine and all the participants a lot of success in eliminating rabies.”
Ukraine is a large country where it will be important to stratify the rabies control efforts according to the ability to carry out prevention and control activities, and make sure that updated standard operating procedures for human bite case management and palliative care are in place everywhere.
For Yurii Zhyhariev, National Professional Officer (Clinical Management), WHO Country Office in Ukraine: “The conference has had an overwhelming response that provided an opportunity for the exchange of knowledge and best practices while strengthening intersectoral and international collaboration and commitment towards a common approach to disease control and prevent the suffering of humans and animals from rabies in Ukraine.”
Source : World Health Organization (WHO)
