History of Rabies in Colombia

Before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, most likely rabies virus was only present in bats in the New World. Rabies would be reported for the first time during the second half of the eighteenth century, when European dog breeds were brought during colonization. This would later give way to isolated cases of canine rabies at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century, during the last stage of the colonial period. Research on canine and human rabies vaccination in Colombia began at the National Institute of Health in the second decade of the twentieth century. The National Veterinary School at The National University of Colombia, also contributed to the diagnosis of wildlife and canine rabies, and organizing canine rabies vaccination campaigns. The progress in rabies research, rabies vaccination campaigns, and rabies diagnosis occurred with the support of international cooperation from organizations in Europe, but especially from the United States during the first 50 years of the twentieth century. The following years, important institutions were founded: the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) which conducted animal rabies diagnosis and the Colombian Vaccine Production company (VECOL), supporting rabies animal vaccine production. The Colombian leadership on dog rabies vaccination campaigns was recognized regionally, since controlling rabies transmitted by dogs had involved approximately 90% of human rabies cases throughout the country before 2000. Currently, two epidemiological forms are of great importance for viral transmission: from 2006, the Magdalena region accounts for 77% of the total reported animal cases with the V1 variant (dogs, cats and foxes), plus all the bovine and equine cases (V3,V4 variant), and since 1999, 43 people have died of rabies in Colombia, 8 by dogs (the last case in 2007), 21 deaths by direct contact with bats, and since 2008 the current trend is by direct contact with unvaccinated cats (which were infected by bats), accounting for 14 human deaths. In 1980, the ICA started a disease control program on bovine rabies, considering four main activities: vaccination; vector control; tracking of outbreaks; and characterization of risk zones. The road for true rabies elimination in Colombia is not feasible, being a country with endemic rabies maintained by hematophagous, insectivorous, and frugivorous rabid bats, and for many years having a separate but joint approach for disease control. This join approach has the Ministry of Health and Social Protection in charge of urban areas for canine and human cases, and the ICA in charge of the rest of the country for all wildlife and production animal cases. There has never been a better time than now to update Colombian health policies and implement control tools towards the One Health approach. Colombia will be able to comply with the global strategic plan of zero human deaths due to canine rabies by 2030, by collaborating with multi-sectoral investment to sustain prevention and control, integrating multiple stakeholders, such as academia, the private sector, NGOs, and public health support within the communities at highest risk, which historically have been neglected due to lack of funds, infrastructure and mainly a lack of prioritization by the existing programs.