The Rabies Concert: Rising towards the Last Waltz?

摘要

Apologies for the brief intermission imposed by the pandemic, between the opening piece of our Special Issue “Lyssaviruses and Rabies: Prevention, Control and Elimination” and this closing act of commentary. Figuratively speaking, there is an old band back in town, tuning their delicate instruments for a final performance—the global elimination of human rabies from dogs (GEHRD), with the anticipation of culmination to zero cases by the year 2030 (ZBT). This virological melody should sound somewhat familiar, because the biomedical players of multiple generations have been on this prevention and control stage for hundreds of years. Encores are anticipated, and some variation on this particular tune may be played for centuries to come, just not as loudly and perhaps less well-attended, because rabies could be managed, but it is not a candidate for eradication (despite some critical reviews). Simply stated, reservoirs abound among wildlife. Attached for your scientific amusement is a rather short, focused playbill to stir the passions and delight the imagination with flights of epidemiological fancy, transforming a seemingly difficult zoonotic arrangement to a masterful One Health concert.