ISSN: 1080-6059
Volume 13, Number 12–December 2007
Conference Summary
The First World Rabies Day Symposium and Expo, Atlanta, Georgia—September 7, 2007
Charles E. Rupprecht* and Abbigail J. Tumpey* 
*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Suggested citation for this article
The first World Rabies Day occurred on September 8, 2007. To recognize this inaugural event, the Alliance for Rabies Control and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) teamed up with numerous international partners including the World Health Organization, World Association for Animal Health, Pasteur Institute, American Veterinary Medical Association, World Veterinary Association, British Veterinary Association, Commonwealth Veterinary Association, and many others. CDC sponsored a symposium on Friday, September 7, 2007, to review national and international progress made and to discuss remaining challenges to the prevention and control of this viral zoonosis. The more than 250 conference participants, representing diverse backgrounds and expertise, heralded from 20 states and 10 countries.
After a formal welcome by Julie Gerberding, Director, CDC, participants began the scientific sessions devoted to prevention and control efforts of rabies virus in domestic animals, wildlife, and humans. Deborah Briggs, Executive Director for the Alliance for Rabies Control, provided an overview of the World Rabies Day campaign, highlighting the diverse events in 68 countries that participated in the initiative. Several countries initiated a national Rabies Control Program in honor of this event.
In another session, Ben Sun, California Department of Health, reviewed the progress in domestic animal control in the United States over the past 50 years. Building upon such achievements, efforts are underway to repeat this success in developing countries throughout the world. Cristina Schneider, Pan American Health Organization, also presented information on the control of dog rabies throughout Latin America, showing such progress is possible even in the developing world.
Dr. Dennis Slate, US Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, discussed the diverse mesocarnivore and bat reservoirs of rabies in the United States. Strategies that integrate educational outreach and contact exclusion remain hallmarks for reducing human exposures. Oral rabies vaccination has evolved as a significant adjunct to conventional rabies prevention and control efforts and has resulted in the successful elimination of canine rabies from coyotes in the United States. Progress has been made in preventing the spread of raccoon rabies from the eastern United States and in containing gray fox rabies in Texas. Nevertheless, the most profound challenge facing the program is the need for baits and oral vaccines with improved effectiveness in other mesocarnivore reservoir species, such as skunks and mongoose. Canada, Mexico, and the United States continue to work toward a North American Rabies Management Plan that will enhance rabies surveillance and control on a continental framework.
Hildegund Ertl, Wistar Institute, reviewed attempts to develop improved human vaccines. To reduce the death toll of rabies, which has the highest case-fatality rate of any infectious disease, an important goal has been to develop an inexpensive 1-dose rabies vaccine for preventative immunization of children in areas highly endemic for rabies. One intramuscular dose of a new replication-defective adenovirus vector (based on a molecular clone of a chimpanzee serotype 68 expressing the rabies virus glycoprotein) induces titers of rabies virus neutralizing antibodies in experimental animals that protect against a subsequent rabies virus challenge–indicating that this vaccine could be used for future development.
Hilary Koprowski, Thomas Jefferson University, gave an overview of the historical aspects of rabies and the current need for integrated technology to eliminate canine rabies in the developing world.
Rodney Willoughby, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, discussed rabies therapeutics and successful treatment of a human rabies patient, which operated under the assumptions that in general, rabies is neither cytopathic nor inflammatory. Anesthesia prevented fatal brain dysfunction until immunity developed and the virus was cleared. Despite only 2 other attempts that met these basic assumptions utilizing the original protocol, human survival with use of the Milwaukee protocol significantly exceeded that of contemporary controls. A CDC working group has been formed to develop a new protocol incorporating this information.
The highlight of the symposium was a presentation by Ms. Jeanna Giese, the only known unvaccinated person to survive rabies. Her moving account of how this deadly disease has affected her life was awe-inspiring. Ms.Giese fielded questions from the audience, giving participants greater insight into her experience and recovery process. The Giese case has encouraged research to better understand rabies pathogenesis and to identify potential antivirals by evaluating their uses for clinical rabies treatment.
This symposium highlighted the major scientific underpinnings of rabies prevention and control, and public health progress both nationally and internationally towards renewed rabies elimination on a global basis in the 21st century.
Dr Rupprecht is the Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Rabies Reference and Research and Chief of the Rabies Program, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-borne and Enteric Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia. His research interests include rabies prevention and control, the emergence of viral zoonoses, and the ecology of infectious diseases.
Abbigail Tumpey is a Health Communications Specialist for the Division of Viral and Rickettisal Diseases, National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-borne and Enteric Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia. She has also served as the Global Communications Coordinator for the 2007 World Rabies Day campaign. Her interests include risk and health communications for viral zoonoses.
Suggested Citation for this Article
Rupprecht CE, Tumpey AJ. The first world rabies day symposium and expo, Atlanta, Georgia—September 7, 2007 [conference summary]. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2007 Dec [date cited]. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/13/12/e1.htm
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Abbigail J. Tumpey, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-borne and Enteric Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mailstop A30, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA; email: atumpey@cdc.gov
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