Public Health England highlights support for World Rabies Day

The government has highlighted the continued global threat of rabies to coincide with World Rabies Day.

A global initiative held annually to raise awareness about the impact of human and animal rabies, the event has prompted Public Health England to issue a reminder of the fact the disease still occurs in more than 150 countries and territories.

With the World Health Organization estimating rabies causes more than 55,000 deaths per year globally, the UK government has reminded travellers that there is a risk of rabies through contact with infected animals, particularly dogs, in countries where the disease has not yet been eliminated.

More than half of the possible rabies exposures to UK travellers occur in Asia and in particular India, Thailand and Turkey. Contact with dogs is the most common cause, followed by bats, cats and monkeys.

Dr Hilary Kirkbride, a rabies expert at Public Health England, said: "World Rabies Day is a timely reminder that rabies is still a serious problem in some parts of the world."

The UK has been free of rabies in terrestrial animals since 1922, though in 2002 it was recognised that UK bats may carry a rabies-like virus called European Bat Lyssavirus 2.