The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognised Chile as the first country in South America to eliminate dog-transmitted rabies as a public health problem. The country’s last human case of this kind was recorded in 1972.
The achievement is the result of decades of dog vaccination, door-to-door campaigns, surveillance and laboratories, and rapid access to treatment after a bite. Preventive vaccination was also carried out in the highest-risk border areas.
Since 1983, human cases of dog-transmitted rabies in the Americas have fallen by more than 98%. It is the second neglected tropical disease Chile has eliminated, after leprosy in early 2026. Worldwide, the disease still kills tens of thousands of people a year, mainly in Asia and Africa.
