Rabies is the world’s deadliest zoonotic disease, with more than 59,000 people globally estimated to die every year. 99% of all human cases are transmitted through infected dog bites, and between 400–500 people are estimated to succumb to the disease in Malawi due to the unavailability of treatment facilities and biologicals. However, rabies is also 100% preventable through mass dog vaccination, establishing herd immunity and eliminating the virus within the reservoir host. Mission Rabies began working in Malawi in 2015 following a ‘Lancet’ publication in 2012 reporting the highest number of paediatric rabies deaths in a single African institution from the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi.
Initially focusing on dog vaccination campaigns in Blantyre City, Mission Rabies vaccination campaigns have expanded significantly, now working in 11 districts covering most of Southern Malawi in 2024. This expansion, conducted and coordinated alongside the Malawi government, has utilised a GIS risk-modelling approach for rabies control based on a Settlement Type and Road Connectivity (STARC) prioritisation model. Through the application of this risk model, the campaign efficiency could be improved to enable scaling the intervention from the initial three districts to a regional scale, covering the Southern Region of the country, all whilst keeping additional investment at a minimum. The risk mapping therefore presents an exciting opportunity to increase access to solutions at scale and maximise the impact of control efforts in countries where lack of funding prohibits effective control programmes.
