Rabies is a viral infection which causes nearly always fatal disease in humans and other warm­ blooded mammals. It has killed large numbers of humans and animals for many centuries. World Rabies Day, which falls on 28 September, is a stark reminder that rabies remains a public health hazard in many parts of the world, particularly Asia and Africa.

In Cambodia, rabies is highly endemic and a notifiable disease in the CAMEWARN surveillance system of the Ministry of Health. According to a study by the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia, approximately 800 people may have died of rabies in 2007. Dogs are the main reservoirs, of the rabies virus, accounting for more than 95 percent of rabid animals. Cambodia has a remarkably large population of dogs. The findings of Institut Pasteur in Cambodia indicate that there is one dog forapproximately every 3 humans, a ratio that is 3 to 4 times higher than that of neighboring countries.Download