Challenges and Prospects of Anti-Rabies Vaccines Production in Nigeria

Abstract

Rabies is one of the oldest known viral zoonosis and remains a serious public health hazard, especially in the developing countries. It is the major viral disease in humans living in the tropics, but it is enzootic worldwide. Though its hundred percent preventable, it is estimated to cause 55,000 deaths annually, at a minimum, because appropriate therapy and preventive measures are not available in most developing countries. Exposure to rabid dogs is responsible for about 90% of reported cases of human rabies in the world each year. Effective control, prevention and eradication of rabies in man and animal can only be realized by immunization. Despite concerted efforts to develop and produce anti-rabies vaccines for protection of man and animal against rabies since 1919 in Nigeria, successful achievement of effective control and prevention of the disease through vaccination is greatly hampered by poor or lack of modern technology and facilities required for development and production of safe and effective vaccines. High cost of development and production, poor electric power supply, poor policy implementation by governments, poverty and gross lack of awareness are other major constraints encountered in rabies vaccinology in developing counties including Nigeria. Recent advances in tissue culture technologies, genetic engineering and peptide chemistry have made it possible to design and produce large quantities of pure antigens. This is a far reaching prospects for the development and production of life-saving vaccines for humans and animals. This approach aims at development and production of safe, effective, potent, and inexpensive anti-rabies vaccines with longer shelf life, greater quantity in terms of volume of vaccines produced and short immunization schedule than the trial and error approach by which vaccines were developed, produced and used in the past.