Rabies as a public health concern in India—a historical perspective

Radhakrishnan, S. , Tamim Vanak, A., Nouvellet, P. and Donnelly, C. A. (2020) Rabies as a public health concern in India—a historical perspective. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 5(4), 162. (doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed5040162) (PMID:33096767) (PMCID:PMC7709690)

Abstract

India bears the highest burden of global dog-mediated human rabies deaths. Despite this, rabies is not notifiable in India and continues to be underprioritised in public health discussions. This review examines the historical treatment of rabies in British India, a disease which has received relatively less attention in the literature on Indian medical history. Human and animal rabies was widespread in British India, and treatment of bite victims imposed a major financial burden on the colonial Government of India. It subsequently became a driver of Pasteurism in India and globally and a key component of British colonial scientific enterprise. Efforts to combat rabies led to the establishment of a wide network of research institutes in India and important breakthroughs in development of rabies vaccines. As a result of these efforts, rabies no longer posed a significant threat to the British, and it declined in administrative and public health priorities in India towards the end of colonial rule—a decline that has yet to be reversed in modern-day India. The review also highlights features of the administrative, scientific and societal approaches to dealing with this disease in British India that persist to this day.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding This research was funded by a Wellcome Trust grant (Grant number 203840/Z/16/A) to S.R., S.R., P.N. and C.A.D. acknowledge joint Centre funding from the UK Medical Research Council and Department for International Development (Grant reference: MR/R015600/1). A.T.V. is supported through a DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Fellowship (Grant no. IA/CPHI/15/1/502028).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Radhakrishnan, Dr Sree
• Authors: Radhakrishnan, S., Tamim Vanak, A., Nouvellet, P., and Donnelly, C. A.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2414-6366
• ISSN (Online): 2414-6366
• Published Online: 16 October 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 by the authors
• First Published: First published in Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease 5(4):162
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license