Deaths / year
59,000
GBD (indicative unless refreshed)
DALYs / year
3,700,000
GBD
Pathogen
Virus
Post-infectious
No post-acute phase
Persistent symptoms
—
Post-infectious syndrome & persistent symptoms
Whether a post-acute infection syndrome is documented and the literature proportion with persistent symptoms.
Post-acute status
Essentially uniformly fatal once symptomatic - no post-acute phase
Classification
No post-acute phase
Onset
-
Persistent-symptom %
not quantified as a single figure (see notes)
Source: WHO rabies
Therapeutic agents by stage
Vector control, prevention, acute treatment, and post-infectious care. Only agents with published evidence are shown by default.
Vector & transmission control
| Agent | Type | Status | Mechanism / role | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dog & wildlife vaccination (oral rabies vaccine) | Vector control | Approved | Population immunity in reservoir species | WHO rabies |
Prevention
| Agent | Type | Status | Mechanism / role | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) | Vaccine | Approved | High-risk occupational / travel vaccination | WHO EML / standard of care |
| Rabies vaccine (post-exposure) | Vaccine | Approved | Active immunization after exposure | WHO EML / standard of care |
| Rabies immunoglobulin (RIG) | Immunoglobulin | Approved | Passive immunity for category III exposures | WHO EML / standard of care |
| Wound washing (soap, povidone-iodine) | Prevention | Approved | WHO PEP protocol first step | WHO rabies guidelines |
Acute phase
| Agent | Type | Status | Mechanism / role | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palliative supportive care (symptomatic)Preliminary | Supportive | Standard of care | Uniformly fatal once neurological symptoms appear | WHO |
Associated drug targets (Open Targets): CGAS
Burden: IHME GBD (indicative seed unless refreshed) · Therapeutics: curated WHO EML / SOC + Open Targets pipeline · Post-infectious data: curated peer-reviewed literature · Ontology: MONDO_0005944 · Updated 2026-07-10. Associations, not a diagnostic test.