The Federal Ministry of Livestock Development (FMLD) has called for stronger collaboration among government institutions, communities, development partners, the private sector, and other stakeholders to accelerate efforts to eliminate rabies in Nigeria by 2030.
Chief Veterinary Officer of Nigeria and Director, Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology, Dr Samuel Akawu Anzaku, made the call during activities commemorating the 2026 World Rabies Day in Abuja.
The event, held under the theme, ‘Stronger Together: Ending Rabies in Nigeria’, featured calls for increased public awareness, mass dog vaccination and coordinated action across the human, animal and environmental health sectors.
Anzaku said rabies remains a major public health concern despite being preventable through vaccination, stressing that activities marking World Rabies Day should translate into sustained interventions beyond the annual commemoration.
He stated that ministry’s campaign would include mass vaccination of dogs in communities and Area Councils, a technical symposium and wider national mobilisation involving State Veterinary Services, development partners, private-sector organisations and other stakeholders.
The chief veterinary officer also disclosed plans to introduce human pre-exposure prophylaxis for frontline workers regularly exposed to dogs, including veterinarians, para-veterinary professionals and hunters.
He stressed the need for the adoption of the one health approach, noting that effective rabies control required coordinated interventions across the livestock, human health and environmental sectors.
Anzaku also called for stronger measures to address the problem of stray dogs, with the active involvement of relevant environmental authorities.
He urged Nigerians to take unusual changes in the behaviour of dogs seriously, particularly unprovoked aggression, excessive irritability and abnormal biting.
He advised dog owners to ensure that their animals are regularly vaccinated, urging anyone bitten or exposed to a suspected rabid animal to immediately report to the nearest health or veterinary facility for appropriate medical attention.
Also speaking, National Coordinator, Rabies Control Programme in Nigeria and Coordinator, National One Health Technical Working Group on Rabies, Dr George Uzaga Onyemaokwu, said Nigeria continued to record rabies cases across the country.
He disclosed that reports had been received from between 18 and 20 states in some months, with more than 100 cases recorded between January and August 2026.
According to him, rabies has been reported in different parts of the country, with some areas in the North-Central and North-East identified as areas of particular concern.
Onyemaokwu identified responsible dog ownership as one of the most important measures for controlling the disease.
He explained that although dogs were not naturally carriers of the rabies virus, they could become infected when exposed to it.
He said Nigeria had an estimated dog population of more than 30 million and stressed the need to achieve high vaccination coverage, with a target of vaccinating about 70 per cent of the country’s dog population.
He therefore called on state governments, development partners, private-sector organisations and other stakeholders to support mass dog vaccination campaigns, noting that prevention through vaccination remained critical to saving lives and reducing the economic burden associated with rabies.
The One Health Lead at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Dr Nasir Ahmed, also stressed the importance of sustained collaboration among government institutions, communities and other stakeholders.
Ahmed said the NCDC continued to support public awareness and access to post-exposure prophylaxis for people exposed to rabies.
Similarly, the FCT One Health Desk Officer, Dr Sharifat Fadugba, called for stronger community engagement, improved availability of reliable data on the dog population and increased vaccination coverage, particularly at the grassroots.
The Chairperson of the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), FCT Chapter, Dr Chinnemeka Joe Irobe, who represented the National President, Dr Moses Arokoju, disclosed that the association had commenced mass dog vaccination across rural communities in the FCT.
She reaffirmed the association’s commitment to supporting national efforts aimed at preventing and eventually eliminating rabies.
The stakeholders urged Nigerians to practise responsible dog ownership, ensure that their dogs were vaccinated and promptly report all dog-bite incidents to the nearest health or veterinary facility.
They emphasised that sustained collaboration across the human, animal and environmental health sectors would be critical to achieving Nigeria’s goal of eliminating rabies by 2030.