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Rabies vaccination drive reaches over 25,000 dogs
“Vaccinating 26,951 dogs in just a week is an incredible achievement by a dedicated and passionate Indian-led team” – Luke Gamble.
Sixty teams of volunteers took part in week-long project in Mumbai.

A rabies vaccination drive in Mumbai, India, has vaccinated 26,951 dogs in one week.

The project, which ran from Monday, 26 February to Friday, 1 March, was led by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in partnership with Mission Rabies, a project ran by the charity Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS).

Sixty teams administered vaccines to free-roaming dogs in the city and surrounding area, using an app to record the location of each vaccination and information about the dogs. The teams were made up of volunteers from India and around the world, including veterinary professionals from the UK.

The drive was part of an ongoing mission to make Mumbai a city free from rabies. An earlier long-term vaccination project in Goa saw the state declared a “Rabies Controlled Area” in 2021. There have been no human rabies deaths in Goa since 2018.

Around 20,000 people die from rabies every year in India, the majority of whom are children under 15 years old.

The World Heath Organisation, alongside the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Organisation for Animal Health and Global Alliance for Rabies Control, aims to eliminate human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.

Luke Gamble, CEO and founder of WVS, said: “Vaccinating 26,951 dogs in just a week is an incredible achievement by a dedicated and passionate Indian-led team.

“This intensive campaign is an important part of a much wider project led by the local government to vaccinate close to 100,000 dogs in the Mumbai region this year and we are honoured to support the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in their efforts to rid Mumbai of this cruel and deadly disease.”

Image © Worldwide Veterinary Service

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Applications open for MMI research grants

News Story 1
 RCVS' Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) has launched round two of its veterinary mental health research grants.

Researchers have until 11.59pm on Wednesday, 28 May 2025 to apply for a grant for research which reflects MMI's 2025 focus areas.

Only one Impact Grant was awarded last year, and so this year there are two Discovery Grants and one Impact Grants available. Each Discovery Grant is worth £5,000 and the Impact Grant is worth £15,000.

For more information or to apply, email researchgrants@rcvs.org.uk to contact the MMI team.

 

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News Shorts
Wales licenses Bluetongue vaccines for voluntary use

The Welsh government has approved three Bluetongue vaccines for emergency use in Wales.

From 1 March an online general licence will become available for the vaccines' use. They will then be obtainable on prescription and can be sold by veterinary practices.

After appropriate guidance, livestock keepers will be permitted to administer the vaccines themselves. The vaccines must be prescribed by a veterinary surgeon and detailed vaccination records must be kept for five years.

The decision comes as Bluetongue virus (BTV-3) continues to spread across England. The three vaccines are already licensed for use in England.

Richard Irvine, CVO for Wales, said: "This decision to licence these vaccines was informed by our recent risk assessment indicating that Wales is now at high risk of experiencing an incursion of Bluetongue this year.

"Our primary aim is to keep Bluetongue out of Wales through biosecurity, vigilance and safe sourcing of livestock."