Rabies is a deadly disease which kills 59 000 people worldwide. Most people are infected when they are bitten or scratched by rabid dogs or cats. If you are bitten or scratched by a potentially rabid animal, you should wash the wound with soap and visit as quickly as possible a Rabies Prevention Center, like the ones at IPC or NIPH in Phnom Penh, at Battambang Hospital, at Kampong Cham hospital, at Kampot hospital, or at Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap, in order to receive rabies vaccine (called post-exposure prophylaxis, PEP). If you are the owner of a biting animal, please restrain its movements and observe it for 2 weeks to make sure it does not develop any clinical signs. To confirm if a sick or dead dog was rabid, you can contact an animal health care worker to collect a brain sample that should be sent to IPC for laboratory analyses.

KAP Rabies project launched in September 2023

This month, IPC has launched a new survey on rabies called “KAP Rabies” with the support of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. This project, funded by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs through the Solidarity Funds for Innovative Projects (FSPI) aims to :

• collect information on where post-exposure prophylaxis is available in Cambodia,
• assess knowledge, attitudes, practices and training needs of health care workers,
• dispense and assess a training to health care workers in the province of Svay Rieng, and
• contribute to raise awareness on rabies in Cambodia.

To reach the first two objectives, a national online survey targeting public and private healthcare workers has recently been launched.