Regional rabies meetings in the Americas

September and October saw meetings of the two most significant regional rabies networks in the Americas.  

At REDIPRA 15, September 15-17th held in Brasilia, Brazil, rabies program managers and representatives from 28 countries across the Americas met to discuss progress and the next steps towards rabies elimination in the region. The meeting was preceded by a seminar on “The Experience of Countries and Tools for the Declaration of Canine Rabies Variants 1 and 2-Free Areas”.  This included a presentation from Dr Bernadette Abela-Ridder from World Health Organization on a framework for the declaration of areas free of neglected tropical diseases and the procedures and portfolio of evidence that countries would need to present to be officially declared as canine-rabies free by international authorities. Dr Katie Hampson of the University of Glasgow then presented her work on a rabies transmission model that could be used by countries for optimally directing resources during the later stages of elimination campaigns.  Delegates from countries reaching elimination shared their experiences and reinforced the message that there is a critical need for accurate surveillance data to guide efforts when elimination is near.

The main REDIPRA meeting reviewed and discussed the current rabies situation across the region. Only a few pockets of canine rabies remain, and in these (most notably Haiti), international collaborations are helping to make progress. The findings of working groups - on subjects such as the elimination of canine rabies, rabies control in wildlife and herbivores and the availability of vaccine and biologics were also presented. Presentations about the PAHO Revolving Fund for vaccines (that now supplies canine rabies vaccines as well as over 40 human vaccines at discounted costs), the updating of the SIRVERA surveillance database for the region, and an overview analysis of data collected ahead of the meeting helped to guide and inform discussions. Delegates renewed their commitment to eliminating canine rabies in the region, and the meeting’s recommendations will be posted on the REDIPRA15 website when finalized.

The 26th Rabies in the Americas (RITA) meeting was held two weeks later, from October 4-8th in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.  With representation from across the Americas and the globe, this meeting focussed on recent research as well as rabies control operations across the region. The Latin American Investigator award was won by Dr. Patricia Araias-Orozco from El Salvador who presented her research on relating spatial distributions of rabies cases to social determinants. The conference celebrated the 25-year anniversary of the use of the oral rabies vaccination (ORV) in the US with a special session of presentations.

In a new venture, a series of provocative TED talks by experts in their fields, on issues from control of rabies in bats to human immune responses, evaluation of control efforts to rabies and the value of ORV for dogs, gave delegates some new perspectives on older debates.  There was a meeting updating participants on recent activities of the Partners for Rabies Prevention of relevance to the Americas, including recent workshops and training on the REC in Haiti. As ever, the gala dinner (this year with a cowboy dress code) and the fundraising auction provided lots of entertainment. The RITA conference’s next host will be Dr. Pedro Vasconcelos of the Evandro Chagas Insitutute in Belem, Brazil, and the conferences ended with Dr. Charles Rupprecht of the Wistar Institut in the US handing over the presidency of RITA to Dr. Ivanete Kotait of the Vencofarma Laboratory of Brazil.

The Americas region is very close to reaching freedom from canine rabies, and alongside strong regional commitment to this goal, many member countries are already contemplating programs for improving the control of wildlife rabies, an area in which the region has a high level of expertise.  Extensive international collaboration--as exemplified by the attendees at these two meetings--will go a long way to support rabies control efforts throughout the region.

Contributed by Louise Taylor, GARC’s Partners for Rabies Prevention coordinator, who represented GARC at the meetings.