Oral Rabies Vaccines: A boon in control of rabies in free ranging dogs in India?

Abstract

Oral rabies vaccines have been in use for the control of sylvatic rabies for years. While the global rabies burden is carried by
Asian and African countries, the control programs for the disease have been more effective in North America and Europe. This
peculiarity is attributed to the use of oral method of vaccination. The broad reservoir host range for rabies, with it being canine
mediated in India demands the need to modify our current control practices. Oral vaccines have been proven to be safe and
induce protective antibody titres in dogs against rabies. Furthermore, with an increasing threat of wildlife rabies in different
parts of India, there is an urgent need for the use of such vaccines in rabies endemic countries. This short review article is a
collective data of the published literature available on different oral rabies vaccines, their field studies and their applicability in
animal rabies control.