Fighting Rabies, One Vaccine at a Time: How Veterinarian Ben Waites is Changing the World with Mission Rabies
For veterinarian Ben Waites, the mission to eliminate rabies isn’t just a job — it’s personal. His journey began thousands of miles from where he works today, in a childhood surrounded by free-roaming dogs and the ever-present fear of a deadly virus.
Thousands of dogs in Cambodia are to receive free rabies vaccinations
Thousands of free rabies vaccinations will be administered to dogs in Cambodia during an intensive two-week campaign. The project is spearheaded by UK animal charity Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) as part of their Mission Rabies project, in close collaboration with General Directorate of Animal Health and Production (GDAHP).
Almost a Quarter Million Dogs Vaccinated by veterinary led Mission Rabies in Asia’s Largest Drive to Save Lives!"
In a record-breaking campaign, 229,488 dogs were vaccinated against rabies in just two weeks across Cambodia, marking Asia’s largest rabies vaccination effort to date. Spearheaded by the UK-based charity Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) under their Mission Rabies project, this massive initiative united hundreds of veterinarians, volunteers, and local authorities with the shared goal of reducing Cambodia’s high rabies mortality rate.
Facial recognition app for dogs developed to help in fight against rabies
Led by researchers at Washington State University, a team used the app to test its effectiveness at a rabies vaccination clinic in rural Tanzania where they microchipped, vaccinated and registered dogs. The technology proved remarkably accurate during a subsequent visit to surrounding villages once poor images and improperly recorded information were removed from its database. Using the app, operators identified 76.2% of vaccinated dogs and 98.9% of unvaccinated dogs.