PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENT OF RABIES CONTROL IN THAILAND

The breakthrough in production of highly efficacious human and animal rabies vaccines has led to successful rabies control in developed coun tries, but rabies is still a major health problem in many developing c ountries. In Thailand, the new cell culture vaccines - purified chick embryo cell (PCEC), purified Vero cell (PVRV), purified duck embryo (P DEV) and human diploid cell (HDCV) are available, and since 1993 have completely replaced the nervous tissue vaccines. The impact of these c ell culture vaccines has been considerable, with the number of human r abies deaths decreasing from 200-300 in the early 1980s to 74 in 1995. Rabies prevention has also focused on the vaccination of dogs, and si nce 1992, the year the Rabies Prevention Act was announced, every owne d dog has to he vaccinated at 2-4 months of age annually thereafter. H owever, only about 20% of dogs have been vaccinated. In 1995, the Mini stry of Agriculture and Cooperation collaborated with the Ministry of Public Health to set up a target of no human rabies deaths in 1996, an d a rabies-free Thailand by the year 2000. an extensive educational ca mpaign is underway. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.