Rabies

Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease that can be transmitted to humans from animals that affects the nervous system of warm-blooded animals.

History of Rabies in Trinidad and Tobago

Vampire bat-transmitted rabies was first recognized in Trinidad by a local researcher Dr. Joseph Pawan in 1931 when he isolated the virus from the brain of an abnormally behaving bat. Over the last century, bat-transmitted rabies in Trinidad has evolved from a mysterious syndrome causing significant loss of both human and animal life to a vaccine-controllable disease of ruminants.

Further reading on the history of rabies

Factsheets

Rabies Factsheet

Posters

Rabies

Rabies Poster – Trinidad

Signs of Rabies in Animals

Signs of Rabies in Humans

What is Rabies

Which Animals Transmit Rabies

Who is at risk

Rabies Brochure – B

Rabies Brochure – A

Anti-Rabies Unit (ARU)

The objectives of the Anti-rabies Unit include:

• To monitor and control populations of vampire bats in Trinidad
• To contain outbreaks of paralytic rabies on the island
• To reduce the incidence of paralytic rabies cases in animals and humans and;
• To monitor populations of non-vampire bat species

More information on the Anti-Rabies Unit