A three-year study in Tanzania has found that involving communities in dog vaccination can achieve higher and more consistent vaccination coverage than relying on centralized, team-based campaigns.

As the world marks World Rabies Day this week, the findings are particularly important because vaccinating dogs is one of the most effective ways to prevent rabies from reaching people. Sustaining high levels of dog vaccination remains central to global efforts to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies.

Published this September in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the study found that a community-based approach to mass dog vaccination achieved substantially higher coverage than the conventional model, in which vaccination teams travel to communities during periodic campaigns.

Researchers from the Ifakara Health Institute—Joel Changalucha, Kennedy Lushasi and Maganga Sambo—contributed to the study, which was co-led by Felix Lankester of Washington State University and Ahmed Lugelo of Rabies Free Africa, alongside colleagues from the University of Glasgow, Tanzania’s Ministry of Livestock Development and Fisheries, and other partners in Tanzania.

Why reaching more dogs matters

Rabies is almost always fatal once clinical symptoms develop, but human deaths can largely be prevented through vaccination of dogs—the main source of human rabies infections—and timely treatment following exposure.

Yet ensuring enough dogs are vaccinated remains a challenge, particularly in rural areas where owners may face difficulties accessing fixed vaccination points or may miss periodic campaigns.

A local approach changes how vaccination reaches dogs

The study compared community-based dog vaccination with conventional team-based delivery across 112 wards in six districts in Tanzania’s Mara Region over three years, from 2020 to 2023.

Under the conventional model, vaccination teams travelled to communities during annual campaigns, with dog owners expected to bring their animals to designated vaccination points.

In the community-based model, trained local vaccinators provided vaccination within their communities throughout the year. The approach was supported by vaccines that can tolerate higher temperatures, reducing reliance on conventional cold-chain systems.

Community-based vaccination reached more dogs

Average vaccination coverage reached 55% in communities using the community-based approach, compared with 37% under team-based delivery.

Coverage was also more consistent. The probability of vaccination coverage falling below 40% was estimated at 18% with community-based delivery, compared with 60% under the conventional approach.

Making vaccination easier to access could improve coverage

The findings suggest that bringing dog vaccination closer to communities could help overcome barriers that prevent dog owners from vaccinating their animals and improve coverage.

While the study did not directly measure its impact on rabies elimination, the researchers say community-based vaccination could support national efforts towards the global Zero by 30 goal of ending dog-mediated human rabies deaths by 2030.

They call for further research to test the approach in different social, geographical and health-system settings and assess its contribution to long-term rabies elimination.

Read the publication here.