FAQs

The Project

Is there a cost for the rabies vaccination?

We will NEVER charge you for a rabies vaccination during our vaccination campaigns. The vaccine is 100% free. If you think you have been wrongly charged for one of our vaccines, please get in contact on our free hotline number 3434 or on our Facebook page: Mission Rabies Malawi.

Do you vaccinate people as well?

The vaccine we use is only for use in animals. Comprehensive rabies vaccination of the reservoir dog population has been proven to eliminate rabies and save human lives.

If you want to discuss human rabies vaccination, we suggest getting in contact with your local health department for more information.

I have checked the schedule, and I won't be at home when the teams will be vaccinating in my village, what should I do?

Please make arrangements with other members of your family or neighbours to allow your dog to be vaccinated. Where possible, keep your dog confined to your compound, yard or on a lead for the day before and day after our teams are scheduled to be in your area. For residents of Blantyre, free rabies vaccine is also available through the WVS Malawi/BSCPA clinic all year round.

Wow, that sounds like a lot of dogs to vaccinate, how do you make sure you get 70% of the targeted population?

Smart phone technology! Our vaccination strategy is planned by targeting identified rabies hotspots in each district. With this information, each of the districts has been further divided into targeted working zones which vaccination teams will be working systematically throughout during your district's campaign. The vaccination team then log every dog vaccine using our bespoke mobile phone application which allows us to monitor and assess their progress. Once a team has reported their working region as complete, we can also send in our post-vaccination surveyors to estimate the percentage of the population which is vaccinated. If that number comes back as above 70%, we tick that district off as complete until next year. This means that we do not rely on costly or time-consuming methods of individual dog identification.

How will I recognise your vaccination teams?

All vaccination team members are identifiable by our yellow Mission Rabies t-shirts.

Rabies Vaccination

I want my dog vaccinated against rabies, what do I need to do?

Please listen for our announcements through your local community-based organisations, local leaders, churches, radio, and check any shared vaccination schedules to see when our teams will be in your area. You may also receive a text message ahead of our city campaigns.

Then make sure either you, a family member or a neighbour is available to give permission to our teams to vaccinate your dog. If your dog is normally free-roaming, please try to confine in a compound, yard or on a chain for the day we are scheduled to visit your area. If you are keeping your dog on a chain, please always make sure your dog has access to shelter and water at all times to avoid it suffering in the sun or rain.

I can't handle my dog, will you be able to vaccinate them?

Our vaccination teams rely on owners holding their own animals for vaccination. If your dog isn't used to being handled, please take this opportunity in the lead up to the vaccination campaign to get your dog used to human company more. Some treats and gentle pats are a nice start, working your way up to holding for a few seconds and walking on a lead. Our vaccination team can advise you on the safest ways to restrain your dog for vaccination.

My dog is ill or injured, can you still vaccinate them?

Our experienced vaccination team members will be able to discuss this with you on a case-by-case basis. But as a general guideline, a dog with a physical injury which is being treated (e.g. a dog fight wound, lameness or transmissible venereal tumour (TVT)) can still be vaccinated. However, a dog which is very ill with for example a severe skin condition, who has been vomiting, had diarrhoea or is very thin may not be a good candidate for vaccination.

If your dog is injured or ill, we recommend taking them to your local veterinary office for treatment.

My dog is already vaccinated against rabies, do I need to vaccinate them again?

Rabies vaccination needs to be repeated once every year to ensure that herd immunity is maintained in the whole dog population in your area. As a general rule, if your dog has been vaccinated within 6 months of our vaccination campaign, it will not need a booster. Any time longer than that, our teams will be happy to vaccinate your dog again for free.

I have a puppy under 12 weeks old, can you still vaccinate them?

As rabies is endemic in Malawi we recommend vaccinating puppies of all ages. We follow the information in the data sheet for the vaccine we use, Nobivac Rabies (MSD Animal Health) which states that the recommended primary vaccination age is 3 months however 'Primary vaccination can be administered at an earlier age, but then a repeat vaccination must be given at the age of 3 or 6 months depending on the species'

I have a pregnant or lactating dog, can you still vaccinate her?

The manufacturer of the rabies vaccine reports that the vaccine can be safely used in pregnant or lactating animals.

How do I know if a dog in my neighbourhood has been vaccinated?

Our teams are using animal-friendly paint to mark vaccinated dogs. This will last for a few days and act as an indicator for our post-vaccination survey teams. All owners of vaccinated dogs over the age of 3 months will also receive a vaccination slip.

If you are only using paint to mark the dogs, how will you know if they are vaccinated next year?

We need to vaccinate dogs against rabies every year, including those that have been vaccinated in previous campaigns. Smart phone technology is used to map out the whole of the vaccination area. Teams are directed systematically from region to region, ensuring efficient coverage of target regions. After a team has reported that their region is complete, post-vaccination survey teams are can be sent into the region to estimate whether over 70% of the population has been vaccinated. If over 70% has been achieved, this region will be ticked off and teams will move to the next region. We can also estimate whether an area is sufficiently covered based on our estimated number of dogs in that area from previous years.

With such a high annual dog turnover of the dog population, our method relies on looking at dogs as a 'herd' rather than individuals. As such, this technology-based method is the more efficient to protect communities form rabies.

I want my dog vaccinated against another disease (e.g. Parvovirus or Distemper) what do I need to do?

This vaccination campaign is only delivering rabies vaccinations. Please contact your local government animal health department or local charity for other vaccinations for your dog.

A vaccination team came to my area, but I wasn't at home, how can I get my dog vaccinated?

Please contact your local government animal health department or local charity for further advice on rabies vaccinations for your dog.

A vaccination team came to my home, but I didn't let them vaccinate my dog. I have changed my mind; how can I get my dog vaccinated against rabies?

Please contact your local government animal health department or local charity for further advice on rabies vaccinations for your dog.

I would like my dog to be sterilised, is this something you can do?

So that we can protect as many communities in Malawi as possible during our campaign, we are focusing only on rabies vaccination.

However, in Blantyre, WVS Malawi/Blantyre Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (BSPCA) clinic provides sterilisation services and at times local outreach clinics.

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Rabies

I am worried that a dog in my village has rabies, what should I do?

Please get into contact with your local animal health officer or call our Mission Rabies free hotline number 3434 to discuss the case with a trained operator. If the dog bites anyone, make sure they get appropriate post-bite treatment described below.

I was bitten by a dog, what should I do?

Firstly, wash the wound with soap or iodine and fresh running water for 15 minutes. DO NOT cover the wound. If the wound is bleeding profusely, you must visit your local health centre for urgent assistance.

Then visit your local veterinary office to report the bite and receive a certificate for post-exposure rabies vaccinations and further referral. You can also call our Mission Rabies free hotline number 3434 for advice.

My dog was bitten by a dog which I think has rabies, what should I do?

Contact your local animal health officer and our free rabies hotline on 3434. If your dog was previously vaccinated against rabies, you should ensure that your dog receives a further rabies booster vaccination. You should then keep your dog contains to avoid mixing with other dogs and monitor them closely for the next 60 days. You can this discuss these measures with our hotline operators. If they start showing any signs of rabies, contact your local animal health officer or our free rabies hotline number 3434 for advice.

I am a teacher and want to educate my students about rabies, can you help me with this?

Education is incredibly important to save people's lives. Please get in touch with our education manager through malawi@missionrabies.com to discuss how we can help you spread the message about rabies prevention.

We also have a lot of educational materials; you can find some of these on our Rabies Resources page.

Working with us

I am an animal charity and am interested in helping conduct our own rabies vaccination drive, can you help with this?

Please get in touch with our team by email (malawi@missionrabies.com) to discuss your project.

The Future

This project is great, but what about the future?

We hope that the success of this scaled-up project will create a blueprint for the rest of Malawi. Watch this space.