The Spanish authorities have notified the Commission of a new outbreak of rabies in the Autonomous Town of Melilla, a Spanish territory located in the North of Africa. It is the third outbreak this year, following those notified on 30 September and 18 November. The outbreak was confirmed in a stray dog that was captured on 5 December and died the following day. Rabies was confirmed on 13 December by the national reference laboratory.

Mass dog vaccinations (MDV) and public awareness are key to success in the fight against canine rabies. Vaccinating at least 70% of the local dog population would break the cycle of transmission from dogs to humans and save the lives of several tens of thousands of humans. In many settings, however, where MDV campaigns are implemented still a high number of dogs remain inaccessible, especially the poorly supervised free-roaming dogs.

A few days ago a man in his 80s died of bat mediated rabies in Illinois, USA, after he woke up to a bat on his neck in mid-August. Although the bat tested positive for rabies, incomprehensively the man declined any form of post-exposure prophylaxis.

With inaugural meeting held on 06^th May 2021 the OIE reference laboratory network for rabies (RABLAB) officially started its work. Membership extends to all 12 OIE-Reference Laboratories for Rabies from across the world that form the core group with a vision to continuously broadening the network in the future. The network will meet on a regular basis and discuss appropriate solutions regarding effective capacity building, proficiency testing, vaccination strategy implementation in particular African and Asian countries.