Canine rabies vaccination, surveillance and public awareness programme in Beijing, China, 2014-2024

To evaluate the operation and outcomes of an integrated dog-mediated rabies elimination programme in the Beijing municipality, China.

Beginning in 2014, the Beijing Animal Disease Control Center launched a dog-mediated rabies elimination programme in collaboration with local government and nongovernmental organizations. The programme involved: (i) a compulsory canine rabies vaccination campaign; (ii) rabies surveillance of local dog populations; (iii) educational rabies awareness programmes in public areas and schools; and (iv) the establishment of an online service platform to strengthen communications on rabies with the public.

By 2023, 664 canine rabies vaccination sites had been established in the Beijing municipality, which comprises seven urban districts and nine districts with rural areas. The proportion of dogs with rabies antibodies increased from 64.7% (1115/1723) in 2014, before the programme, to 86.4% (1481/1715) in 2017 and stayed around 80% in subsequent years. In 2022, for the first time, no rabies was reported in dogs that injured people. Concurrently, the annual number of reported human rabies cases dropped from 11 in 2015 to zero in 2021, with no subsequent cases reported up until the third quarter of 2024.

The rabies elimination programme met the goal of eliminating human rabies infections in the Beijing municipality and demonstrated that dog-mediated rabies elimination is achievable at the provincial level. The experience gained could serve as a practical guide for dog-mediated rabies control in both urban and rural areas of China and in other countries facing similar challenges.