A Himalayan kingdom wipes out the rabies that rides on dog bites

Just ahead of World Rabies Day, Bhutan won official recognition from the World Health Organization for eliminating dog-transmitted human rabies — only the second country ever, after Mexico, and the first in Southeast Asia. The milestone matters because dog bites and scratches account for nearly 99% of human rabies cases worldwide, a disease almost always fatal once symptoms develop. Bhutan has recorded zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies since June 2023, and has shown it has the infrastructure to keep the disease from returning. The turnaround came from a 2021 royal decree that launched a nationwide "One Health" program, pairing the health and agriculture ministries to vaccinate dogs, manage populations, and offer free post-exposure shots across the country. Bhutan's success is now a model for the international "Zero by 30" campaign to end human rabies deaths by 2030.