Bhutan achieves elimination of dog-transmitted human rabies

The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially validated Bhutan as having eliminated dog-transmitted human rabies as a public health problem. Bhutan is the first country in the WHO South-East Asia Region to achieve this milestone.

This success follows more than a decade of investment in a ‘One Health’ approach, which integrates human, animal, and environmental health strategies. Key components of the campaign included mass canine vaccination, population management, and coordinated surveillance between veterinary and human health sectors. The WHO validation was finalized following a rigorous document review and a field mission in August 2026.

Bhutan has not recorded a human death from dog-transmitted rabies since June 2023. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the achievement as ‘historic,’ noting it brings the global community closer to the goal of ending human deaths from dog-transmitted rabies by 2030.