Oral rabies vaccination to boost dog vaccination in Tanzania
Official title: Investigating the effectiveness of oral rabies vaccination in the control of canine and human rabies
Funded at Global Animal Health Tanzania · NIH-11417954 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This grant tests whether giving oral rabies vaccines to free-roaming dogs, alongside existing injections, can improve vaccination coverage and reduce rabies risk for dogs and people in Tanzania.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Global Animal Health Tanzania NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Arusha, Tanzania U Rep) |
| Project start | September 15, 2025 |
| Project end | August 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $135,994 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AI183508-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11417954 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are communities in rabies-endemic regions with free-roaming or hard-to-reach dogs and active vaccination programs, particularly in rural Tanzania.
✕Less likely to help
Communities without dog populations or without rabies risk would be unlikely to benefit.
What this research studies
Rabies remains a serious risk in parts of Africa and Asia, where many dogs are hard to reach with injections alone. The project will test adding oral rabies vaccine baits to current dog vaccination programs in real-world rural Tanzania to see if it increases vaccination rates, how well the approach works on the ground, and what it costs. Researchers will study how people in communities respond, how the vaccines are stored and delivered, and the overall impact on rabies control. Results could inform safer, more effective rabies control strategies in settings where traditional vaccination struggles to reach all dogs.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the approach could reduce rabies transmission to dogs and humans and strengthen public health protection in endemic areas.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work suggests that oral vaccination can complement parenteral vaccination in challenging settings, with mixed but informative early results.
Where this research is happening
-
Global Animal Health Tanzania
Arusha, Tanzania U Rep Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lugelo, Ahmed — Global Animal Health Tanzania
- Study coordinator: Lugelo, Ahmed
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.