Integrating Oral Rabies Vaccination and Facial Recognition Technology to Enhance the Well-Being of Dogs and the Community in Tanzania

SUMMARY: Researchers will study whether oral rabies vaccination, coupled with facial recognition technology, can improve the health and welfare of dogs in rural communities in Tanzania.

THE PROBLEM: Rabies is a deadly but preventable disease that affects people and animals. In Tanzania, rabies is still common, and dogs are the main source of infection. In the Mara region, about 685 dogs and 20-30 people die from rabies each year. Fear of the disease leads to inhumane treatment of free-roaming dogs, including stoning, poisoning, and culling. Rabies also puts wildlife at risk. Vaccinating dogs is the best way to stop rabies, but it can be hard to reach all dogs, especially those that roam freely or are aggressive. New strategies are needed to help curb rabies in rural communities.

THE PROJECT: To address the problem the team will test a new oral rabies vaccine, which is given as a bait. We hypothesize that this method will makes it easier to vaccinate dogs that cannot be caught. However, there are challenges to this approach, including keeping the vaccine cold, which is difficult in hot rural areas, and knowing which dogs have already been vaccinated. This study will therefore test if the vaccine remains potent when stored outside of refrigerators in simple cooling containers that don’t use electricity. The team will also trial a new phone app that uses facial recognition to identify dogs. This tool could help identify dogs and determine their vaccination status and thus provide important information to help vaccinators avoid unnecessarily re-vaccinating dogs that have already been vaccinated. 

POTENTIAL IMPACT: The results will help control rabies and protect both people and animals. This study could also provide a blueprint for rabies control in other rural communities around the world.