First Oral Rabies Vaccine for Dogs

When it comes to free-roaming dogs, oral rabies vaccination (ORV) may play a crucial role in the global fight against canine rabies and could revolutionise the progress towards the ‘Zero by 30’ global strategic plan. For the first time, and according to scientific literature, there is an oral rabies vaccine for dogs.

27 Mar 2023 (Germany) – Regulatory approval of oral rabies vaccines and associated testing is cost-effective. A number of oral rabies vaccines, both attenuated or recombinant, have been developed and licensed for wildlife but not a single vaccine has yet claimed regulatory approval for dogs. However, if a vaccine is already licensed for wildlife, it may only take overcoming a few more hurdles to achieve this. As for wildlife, we need to ensure that an oral rabies vaccine, as well as the bait, are effective, safe and enticing for dogs. Most potential vaccine candidates have only been used experimentally in dogs, either in the laboratory or in the field. Only recently has a first oral rabies vaccine been reported to show high efficacy, immunogenicity and safety both under laboratory and field conditions and will apply for regulatory approval.

Photo: ©2022/Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute/Giulia Manzetti