Rabies-free Sri Lanka: Vital role of veterinarians

Rabies remains one of the world’s deadliest yet most preventable diseases. As a zoonotic disease transmitted mainly through infected animals, preventing human deaths ultimately depends on controlling the disease at its source. While Sri Lanka has made remarkable progress in reducing rabies over the years, achieving the goal of a rabies-free nation will require a renewed commitment to the One Health approach and greater recognition of the leadership role veterinarians can play in rabies prevention.

As a veterinarian and a virologist who has spent much of my professional career studying infectious diseases affecting both animals and humans, I have come to appreciate that rabies is one of the clearest examples of why human and animal health cannot be separated. A patient presenting to a hospital following exposure to rabies is often the final link in a chain of events that began much earlier in an infected animal. Breaking that chain before human exposure occurs is the most effective way to save lives.

Physicians play an indispensable role in treating bite victims, administering post-exposure prophylaxis, and preventing fatalities. Their contribution to rabies control is both essential and admirable. However, rabies prevention begins long before a patient reaches a hospital. The primary tools for eliminating rabies are mass animal vaccination, disease surveillance, responsible pet ownership, public education, and effective dog population management, all areas in which veterinarians possess specialised training and expertise.

The One Health concept recognises that human, animal, and environmental health are closely interconnected. Rabies illustrates this principle better than almost any other disease. No single profession, ministry, or institution can eliminate rabies alone. Success requires close collaboration among veterinarians, medical professionals, public health authorities, local government bodies, animal welfare organisations, educational institutions, community groups, and the private sector.

As veterinarians, we contribute to rabies control by preventing the disease before it reaches people. Through vaccination programmes, disease surveillance, public education, responsible pet ownership, dog sterilisation initiatives, and humane animal population management, we help break the cycle of transmission at its source. Every dog successfully vaccinated represents not merely an animal protected, but potentially several human lives safeguarded from a disease that is almost always fatal once clinical signs develop.

Recognising and strengthening veterinary leadership in rabies prevention should not be viewed as diminishing the role of the medical profession. Rather, it ensures that each profession contributes its unique expertise within a coordinated national strategy. Doctors save lives through treatment. Veterinarians save lives through prevention. Both are indispensable to a successful rabies elimination programme.

A truly effective One Health strategy requires strengthening cooperation among all stakeholders and better utilisation of available resources by emphasising prevention. Investing in vaccination, surveillance, community awareness, responsible animal ownership, sterilisation programmes, and humane dog population management is not only more cost-effective but also more humane than relying mainly on post-exposure treatment after bites. This approach will also enhance disease surveillance, data sharing, outbreak response, and public awareness across sectors, creating a more resilient public health system.

Sri Lanka has already demonstrated that rabies can be controlled. The challenge now is to eliminate it. To achieve this goal, we must continue investing in veterinary public health services, strengthen cooperation between the animal and human health sectors, and fully embrace the One Health philosophy. The surest way to prevent human rabies deaths is to stop the disease where it originates: in animal populations.

A rabies-free Sri Lanka is an achievable goal. It will be reached most effectively when veterinarians, doctors, public health authorities, local governments, animal welfare groups, civil society organisations, academia, and the private sector work together under the banner of One Health, united by a common commitment to protecting both human and animal lives.

Prevention is not only better than cure; in the case of rabies, it is the key to elimination. By empowering veterinarians to lead prevention efforts and fostering collaboration across all sectors, Sri Lanka can become a regional model for One Health-based rabies control.

(Dr. Udeni Balasuriya, BVSc, MS, PhD, FSLCVS, is Professor of Virology

Robert & Julia Simmons Endowed Professor of Infectious Diseases

The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Louisiana State University.