On World Rabies Day, here’s all you need to know about rabies and its prevention

September 28 has been World Rabies Day. It has been recognised as such by the United Nations and marked every year since 2007. The campaign is coordinated by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control. The day has been chosen as the World Rabies Day because it is the death anniversary of Louis Pasteur, who developed the first rabies vaccine. Rabies is an incurable disease that causes inflammation of the brain and eventual death. There is no way to stop or retard the progression of the disease once it has begun, and death almost always results within two weeks. The disease causes up to 55,000 deaths annually. Therefore, effective vaccination is necessary to counter the threat of contracting rabies. Rabies is caused by the bite of an infected animal, such as a dog or a bat. In India, rabies is caused mainly by non-vaccinated stray dogs, while in advanced countries, bats cause rabies...