[Recent developments in the epidemiology and prevention of rabies]

Rabies is one of the oldest known diseases and man has been combatting it for many centuries. In many parts of the world, however, especially in the developing countries, success in controlling the disease will remain limited. Sanitary prophylaxis of rabies has reached its limit due to two factors: the difficulty of confining or eliminating all the vector animals, and the growing public opposition to the use of such measures. Medical prophylaxis can be undertaken in two ways: vaccination by the parental route or oral vaccination. The former has reached its limit in many developing countries, where its high cost is considered to outweigh the benefit to public health. Oral vaccination, on the other hand, has achieved spectacular success in Europe, where it is being used to progressively eliminate fox rabies. This technique could applied to dogs as soon as the scientific and technical prerequisites have been clearly defined.