Yesterday September 8, 2007 was observed World Rabies Day. The goal of World Rabies Day is to raise awareness about the impact of human and animal rabies, how easy it is to prevent, and how to eliminate the human disease by combating it in animals.

It is estimated that 55000 people die every year from rabies -- an average of one death every 10 minutes.

Once a person is bitten by an animal suspected to be rabid, vaccines must be

administered to prevent rabies. There are safe and effective vaccines available for people who have been bitten, but to date they have been little used in developing countries due to the high cost. World Rabies Day is the initiative of a charity named Alliance for Rabies Control (ARC) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States. WHO co-sponsored the 2007 events, which drew attention to the magnitude of the problem and the measures which developing countries can undertake.