World Rabies Day 2023: Date, history, theme, significance and all you need to know

World Rabies Day raises awareness of rabies prevention and progress in the fight against the disease. From date to theme, here's everything you need to know.

World Rabies Day is an annual event to raise awareness of rabies prevention and the progress being made in the fight against this terrible disease. It is also the anniversary of the death of Louis Pasteur. He was a French chemist and microbiologist who developed the first vaccine against rabies. It is an event that aims to bring together all groups, organisations and stakeholders in the fight against rabies. A contagious viral disease, rabies is almost always fatal once clinical symptoms appear. The veterinary and human medical professions must work together to combat this disease, which still affects both humans and animals and is still prevalent in Africa and several Asian countries. Read on to know more about this day.

When is World Rabies Day 2023

World Rabies Day will be celebrated globally on Thursday, September 28.

World Rabies Day 2023 theme

This year we are celebrating the 17th World Rabies Day. And this year's theme is "All for 1, One Health for All". It highlights that one health is not for a select few but for everyone.

History of World Rabies Day

World Rabies Day was established by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control in 2007 and later endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The purpose of the day is to highlight the progress made in eradicating rabies and to raise awareness of rabies prevention. The first rabies vaccine was developed by the French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur, whose death on 28 September is the reason why 28 September is observed each year as World Rabies Day. The Global Alliance for Rabies Control chooses a theme for World Rabies Day each year. The different themes have been chosen to highlight different facets of the disease and methods to cure it.

World Rabies Day significance

World Rabies Day is an opportunity to reflect on how rabies affects your community and others around the world. Rabies is most commonly found in wild animals and is still widespread in the United States. Rabies in pets or other domesticated animals is relatively rare because of the high vaccination rates for dogs and cats in the United States. However, dogs can get rabies in many other countries. In fact, dog bites sustained while travelling abroad account for about 25% of recorded human rabies deaths among Americans. Although rabies is a completely preventable disease, it still claims the lives of about 60,000 people each year. World Rabies Day is an opportunity to reflect on our efforts to control this deadly disease and to remember that the fight against rabies is not over.