The Role of Waste Management in Control of Rabies: A Neglected Issue

• Published in: Viruses Vol. 13; no. 2; p. 225
• Main Authors: Wright, Nicolette, Subedi, Deepak, Pantha, Saurav, Acharya, Krishna Prasad, Nel, Louis Hendrik
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-02-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Africa - epidemiology; Animals; Asia - epidemiology; Collaboration; Communicable Disease Control - methods; Developing countries; Dog Diseases - epidemiology; Dog Diseases - prevention & control; Dog Diseases - virology; Dogs; Food; Food sources; free-roaming dogs; Ghettos; Herd immunity; Humans; Immigration; LDCs; municipal waste; Pets; Population; Production capacity; Rabies; Rabies - prevention & control; rabies control; Rabies Vaccines - immunology; Solid Waste - analysis; Urbanization; Vaccination - veterinary; Vaccines; Waste disposal; Waste Management; Zoonoses; Asia; Africa; United States > US; India; municipal waste; free-roaming dogs; rabies control
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v13020225

Despite being vaccine preventable, the global burden of dog rabies remains significant, and historically it is the rural and marginalized communities in developing countries of Africa and Asia that are most threatened by the disease. In recent years, the developing world has been experiencing unprecedented increases in urbanization, with a correspondingly massive increase in municipal solid waste generation, among other things. Inefficient and inadequate waste collection and management, due to lack of resources and planning, led to significant increases in the volumes of waste on the streets and in open dumps, where it serves as food sources for free-roaming dogs. In this commentary, we discuss examples of poor waste management and the likely impact on rabies control efforts through the sustenance of free-roaming dogs in some dog rabies-endemic countries. We aim to stress the importance of implementing strategies that effectively address this particular issue as an important component of humane dog population management, as it relates to aspirations for the control and elimination of dog rabies per se.