Rabies - Bulletin - Europe

WHO Collaborating Centre for Rabies Surveillance & Research

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Tragic human rabies case in Romania

A 44-year-old man from Voinești, Iași County, Romania, died of rabies in mid-July 2025 after being bitten by a stray dog in February. He was treated with antibiotics but did not receive post-exposure prophylaxis. Symptoms appeared in June, and rabies was only suspected after his family reported the bite. He died after more than three weeks in an infectious disease clinic. This is the first confirmed autochthonous human case of terrestrial rabies in Romania and the EU/EEA since 2012.

A milestone in medical history was reached 140 years ago

On July 6, 1885, Louis Pasteur treated young Joseph Meister—who had been bitten by a rabid dog—with the first effective rabies vaccine, which he had developed himself. The vaccination consisted of a series of injections using a weakened rabies virus derived from the spinal cord of infected rabbits. This breakthrough marked a turning point in the development of preventive vaccines and laid the foundation for modern vaccine research. Pasteur’s pioneering work saved countless lives and played a key role in combating this deadly zoonotic disease.

Alleged human rabies case linked to Morocco

English news media are reporting a case of rabies in a person from the UK who sadly died in hospital in June 2025 after presumably coming into contact with a rabid stray dog in Morocco. The rabies endemicity in Morocco remains a public health concern. In 2022, there were 17 human cases confirmed, and historically around 20 cases per year, with about 250–350 animal cases annually.

 

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Bat-associated rabies case in a cat from the Netherlands

Bat-associated rabies case in a cat from the Netherlands

In October 2024, rabies was detected in an unvaccinated cat from the Netherlands by laboratory tests
using DFA and RT-qPCR. Three and a half weeks before the cat showed clinical signs, a dead bat was
found in the house and disposed of without further examination. Viral characterization revealed European
bat lyssavirus 1 (EBLV-1) as the causative agent. This is the 4th case of bat rabies in cats in Europe.

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