Nearly 100% Fatal. Nearly 100% Preventable. And America Is Overlooking One of Its Most Powerful Weapons Against It.

As the CDC reports a nationwide surge in rabies exposures, United Spay Alliance declares “No Babies. No Rabies.” and puts spay and neuter on the front lines of the fight to end a disease that still kills 59,000 people a year

World Rabies Day: Monday, September 28, 2026 | 2026 Theme: “Stronger Together”

WALKERSVILLE, MD., September 22, 2026, Everyone knows about the rabies shot. Almost no one knows about the other shot communities have at stopping rabies before it starts. Ahead of World Rabies Day on September 28, United Spay Alliance, the national nonprofit connecting pet parents to affordable spay and neuter services in all 50 states, is proudly joining the Global Alliance for Rabies Control’s “Stronger Together” campaign with a message the rabies conversation has been missing for decades: spaying and neutering is upstream rabies prevention.

Rabies is one of the oldest and deadliest diseases known to humanity, yet it is also one of the most preventable, and America’s own record is the proof: fewer than 10 human deaths each year, down from hundreds annually before the 1960s, thanks to widespread pet vaccination, strong animal control, and public health tracking. At the foundation of all three sits a single intervention: spay/neuter. The nation’s animal shelters demonstrate the connection every day. When a dog or cat is sheltered, spay or neuter surgery is a standard part of that animal’s care before it goes home. At that time they also receive their vaccinations, most importantly, the rabies vaccine. One appointment delivers two layers of protection: the pet leaves the shelter already fixed and already shielded against rabies, and the community gains one less animal capable of producing tomorrow’s unvaccinated, free-roaming litters. That is the simple logic behind No Babies. No Rabies. Fewer unowned and free-roaming animals means fewer chances for pets and people to encounter rabies, more spay/neuter means more vaccination, and more vaccination means safer communities. Every spay/neuter procedure is a public health intervention, and every rabies vaccine administered during surgery is a shield placed between a family and a preventable disease.

The message could not be more timely. This month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a national health advisory reporting a nationwide increase in rabies exposures: rabies-related inquiries to CDC rose 17 percent this summer compared with last year, and demand for post-exposure rabies vaccines and immunoglobulin has surged an estimated 33 percent and 76 percent, respectively.

Rabies remains one of the deadliest diseases on Earth, virtually 100 percent fatal once symptoms appear, claiming an estimated 59,000 lives worldwide every year, roughly 40 percent of them children under 15. Yet it is also nearly entirely preventable. Vaccination is the front line of that defense. If any unfixed litter becomes the next generation of unvaccinated, free-roaming animals, the exact population through which rabies spreads. Fewer litters mean fewer roaming, unvaccinated animals, and a safer community for everyone.

“The rabies vaccine protects your pet. Spaying and neutering protects your whole community,” said Julie Bank, Interim Executive Director of United Spay Alliance. “Reducing that population at the source is public health work, plain and simple, and it is a tool we cannot afford to leave on the shelf. That is what ‘Stronger Together’ looks like in a real neighborhood: fixed, vaccinated, protected.”

The organization is anchoring its World Rabies Day outreach around its signature message, No Babies. No Rabies. The campaign pairs vaccination guidance with its free national directory of low-cost spay and neuter providers. United Spay Alliance does not perform procedures itself; it does something just as powerful: it makes it simple for any family, anywhere in the country, to find affordable help close to home at www.unitedspayalliance.org/directory.

Rabies by the Numbers

In the United States:

About 4,000 animal rabies cases are reported each year, more than 90 percent in wildlife such as bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes.
Three out of four Americans live in a community where wildlife carries rabies.
More than 6 million Americans report animal bites annually; about 1.4 million seek medical care for possible rabies exposure, and roughly 100,000 receive post-exposure rabies treatment each year.
At least 7 out of 10 Americans who die of rabies were infected by bats, and rabid bats are found in every state except Hawaii.
Thanks to pet vaccination and prevention programs, fewer than 10 Americans die of rabies each year, down from several hundred annually before 1960. In 2023, the United States, Canada, and Mexico reported zero human rabies deaths, a historic milestone proving that prevention works when communities act together.

Around the World:

An estimated 59,000 people die of rabies every year in more than 150 countries, about one death every nine minutes, and the true toll is likely far higher due to underreporting.
Roughly 40 percent of victims are children under 15, and 95 percent of deaths occur in Africa and Asia.
Up to 99 percent of human rabies cases come from the bite of an infected dog, which is why controlling unvaccinated, free-roaming animal populations is central to the global fight.
More than 29 million people worldwide receive rabies vaccination after a bite every year, treatment that is nearly 100 percent effective, but only if victims can reach it in time.
The World Health Organization reports that sustained vaccination of just 70 percent of dogs in a community can control canine rabies, proof that the fight is winnable at the neighborhood level.
Rabies costs the world an estimated $8.6 billion every year in lost lives, livelihoods, medical care, and livestock.

The contrast between the American and global numbers tells the story: where pets are vaccinated and animal populations are managed, rabies deaths all but disappear. That is the “Stronger Together” playbook, and spay and neuter is a critical page of it.

What the Research Shows: Studies and Case Studies

The science behind “No Babies. No Rabies.” is not a slogan, it is a growing body of peer-reviewed evidence and real-world case studies in both dogs and cats:

The Bangkok case study (dogs): In one of the largest real-world tests of the fix-and-vaccinate model ever conducted, nearly 300,000 free-roaming dogs in Greater Bangkok were sterilized, vaccinated against rabies, and returned over five years. A 2023 published evaluation found free-roaming dog density fell 24.7 percent, confirmed dog rabies cases declined an average of 5.7 percent per month, and human-dog relationships in the community measurably improved.
One visit, double protection (dogs): A 2023 study published in the journal Vaccines found that dogs given their rabies vaccine at the time of spay/neuter surgery mounted a fully adequate antibody response, no different from dogs vaccinated without surgery. The researchers explicitly recommend administering rabies vaccine during spay/neuter campaigns, confirming that a single low-cost clinic visit can leave a pet both fixed and protected.
Why sterilization helps vaccines win (dogs): A scientific review in Frontiers in Veterinary Science concluded that humane sterilization reduces the constant churn of new, unvaccinated animals entering a population, making it far easier for communities to reach and maintain the vaccination coverage needed to stop rabies transmission.
The Maryland case study (cats): In August 2024, a single rabid feral cat found outside a Maryland hotel triggered a public health investigation of 309 potentially exposed people, with three ultimately requiring post-exposure treatment. In its report, the CDC warned that unmanaged cat colonies pose public health risks, and pointed to managed colonies, where caretakers maintain rabies vaccination coverage and use sterilization to phase colonies out naturally, as the protective model.
The national surveillance record (dogs and cats): The most recent U.S. rabies surveillance study, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, confirmed cats remain the most frequently reported rabid domestic animal, 222 rabid cats in 2023 versus far fewer dogs, underscoring where America’s domestic-animal rabies gap now lies: in unvaccinated, free-roaming cat populations.
When doctors and veterinarians work as one (dogs): A 2022 study in Frontiers in Tropical Diseases examined 14 “Integrated Bite Case Management” programs across 13 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, programs where every serious bite reported to a doctor triggers a veterinary investigation of the biting animal, and both sectors share what they learn. This is the “Stronger Together” theme operating as an actual system: the study found the approach improves detection of rabid animals and smarter use of life-saving treatment, and notes that Latin America has already cut dog-mediated rabies cases by more than 98 percent through large-scale coordinated dog vaccination programs.
The global research consensus: A landmark peer-reviewed research collection in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 21 studies by 151 researchers worldwide, viewed more than 226,000 times, documents the worldwide push toward “Zero by 30.” Its throughline validates this year’s World Rabies Day theme: mass vaccination of dogs is a proven principle, and rabies elimination succeeds where animal health, human health, and communities work together as one, with documented economic savings when they do.

Taken together, the evidence points one direction: sterilization plus vaccination is the proven, humane, community-level formula, and every spay/neuter appointment is a chance to deliver both.

What Every Pet Parent Should Know

Drawing on CDC rabies guidance and national surveillance reporting, United Spay Alliance urges families to remember four facts. First, vaccination is affordable and widely available: rabies vaccines typically cost between $15 and $35 at low-cost clinics, and many shelters and counties offer free vaccination days. Second, indoor pets are not exempt, a single bat entering a home can expose an unvaccinated cat, so every pet should be vaccinated regardless of lifestyle. Third, lapsed vaccines carry serious consequences: a pet is not considered immunized until 28 days after its first shot, and under CDC guidance an unvaccinated dog or cat that is exposed to a rabid animal faces euthanasia or a strict four-month quarantine. Fourth, spaying and neutering reduces long-term risk for the entire community by shrinking the population of unvaccinated, free-roaming animals through which rabies travels.

Protect Your Pet: A World Rabies Day Checklist

United Spay Alliance is asking every pet parent in America to take these steps before September 28:

Vaccinate and stay current. Check your pet’s vaccination record today and schedule any overdue rabies boosters. All dogs, cats, and ferrets should be vaccinated, including pets that live entirely indoors.
Spay or neuter your pet. Prevent the litters that become tomorrow’s unvaccinated, free-roaming animals. Find a low-cost provider near you through the free national directory at www.unitedspayalliance.org/directory.
Supervise your pets. Keep cats indoors and dogs leashed or supervised outside. Pets that roam are far more likely to encounter rabid wildlife.
Keep your distance from wildlife. Never approach or handle wild, stray, sick, or strangely behaving animals, including nocturnal animals seen during the day. Call animal control instead.
Don’t invite wildlife in. Secure trash, never leave pet food outdoors, and seal openings where bats or other wildlife could enter your home.
Take bats seriously. If you find a bat in your home, especially in a room where someone was sleeping or where a pet had access, contact your health department before releasing it.
Act fast after any exposure. If your pet is bitten, scratched, or found in contact with wildlife, avoid touching your pet with bare hands, call your veterinarian immediately, and report the incident to local animal control. If a person is bitten or scratched, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water and seek medical care right away.
Share the message. A community where every pet is fixed and vaccinated is a community where rabies has nowhere left to go.

World Rabies Day, observed each September 28 on the anniversary of Louis Pasteur’s death, is coordinated by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control with the support of the World Health Organization and partners worldwide in pursuit of the global “Zero by 30” goal: ending human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030. Learn more at rabiesalliance.org/world-rabies-day.

About United Spay Alliance

United Spay Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting affordable, accessible, and timely spay and neuter services nationwide. The Alliance does not perform procedures. Instead, it maintains a national directory connecting pet parents to veterinarians and clinics offering low-cost spay and neuter services, and works with a national network of state and local referral organizations to advance research, education, and public policy. Its mission is to decrease the number of homeless animals, elevate their status, and end their homelessness. To find a provider or learn more, visit www.unitedspayalliance.org.

Sources and References

World Health Organization, “Rabies” Fact Sheet and Epidemiology and Burden of Disease. Rabies is fatal in virtually 100% of cases once clinical symptoms appear; an estimated 59,000 human deaths occur annually in over 150 countries, with roughly 40% of victims children under 15, 95% of cases in Africa and Asia, up to 99% of human cases transmitted by dogs, and over 29 million people receiving human rabies vaccine annually. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies and https://www.who.int/teams/control-of-neglected-tropical-diseases/rabies/epidemiology-and-burden

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Advisory HAN-00533, “Nationwide Increase in Reported Human Rabies Exposures: Rabies Post-exposure Prophylaxis Administration” (September 2026). CDC received 17% more rabies-related inquiries in July to August 2026 than the same period in 2025; utilization of rabies vaccines and rabies immunoglobulin increased an estimated 33% and 76%, respectively. https://www.cdc.gov/han/php/notices/han00533.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Rabies in the United States: Protecting Public Health.” Approximately 4,000 animal rabies cases reported annually with more than 90% in wildlife; three out of four Americans live in communities where wildlife carries rabies; more than 6 million animal bites reported annually, 1.4 million people receive care for possible exposure, about 100,000 receive post-exposure prophylaxis, and fewer than 10 human deaths occur each year, down from several hundred annually before 1960. https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/php/protecting-public-health/index.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “About Rabies.” Rabid bats are found in every U.S. state except Hawaii; contact with infected bats is the leading cause of human rabies deaths in the United States. https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/about/index.html

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations / World Health Organization, World Rabies Day. Rabies causes an estimated cost of USD 8.6 billion per year globally. https://www.fao.org/one-health/highlights/world-rabies-day/en

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Rabies Information for Veterinarians” (reflecting the NASPHV Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control). An animal is considered immunized only 28 days after initial vaccination; unvaccinated dogs and cats exposed to a rabid animal should be euthanized or, if the owner declines, placed in strict four-month quarantine. https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/hcp/veterinarians/index.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Rabies Prevention and Control.” Avoid wildlife, never approach animals that appear sick or injured, keep pets vaccinated and away from wild animals. https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/prevention/index.html

Global Alliance for Rabies Control, “World Rabies Day.” September 28 observance, 2026 theme “Stronger Together,” and campaign background. https://rabiesalliance.org/world-rabies-day

World Health Organization, “World Rabies Day” campaign page. September 28 marks the anniversary of the death of Louis Pasteur, who developed the first rabies vaccine. https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-rabies-day

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MMWR, “Rabies Outbreak in an Urban, Unmanaged Cat Colony, Maryland, August 2024” (2025). Approximately 200 to 300 cats are reported rabid each year, making cats the most frequently reported rabid domestic animal in the United States; CDC estimates post-exposure treatment associated with rabid or potentially rabid cats costs approximately $33 million annually. A rabid feral cat identified in August 2024 was initially thought to have potentially exposed 309 persons, leading to post-exposure prophylaxis for three; CDC noted that managed colonies often maintain high rabies vaccination coverage and use sterilization programs to facilitate a natural phaseout. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7431a2.htm

Ma X, et al., “Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2023,” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (2025). In 2023, 3,760 animal rabies cases were reported; cats were the most frequently reported rabid domestic animal; no human rabies cases were reported in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico in 2023. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40683310/

World Health Organization, South-East Asia Region, Rabies. Globally it has been shown that control of canine rabies can be achieved with sustained dog vaccination coverage of 70%. https://www.who.int/southeastasia/health-topics/rabies

“Impact Assessment of Free-Roaming Dog Population Management by CNVR (Catch-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return) in Greater Bangkok,” Animals (2023). Nearly 300,000 CNVR operations over five years produced a 24.7% reduction in free-roaming dog density, an average 5.7% monthly reduction in laboratory-confirmed dog rabies cases, and improved dog-human relationships. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10252118/

Peda A, Samaniego P, Daugherty C, Wood T, Wang C, Knobel D. “Does Perioperative Administration of Rabies Vaccine in Dogs Undergoing Surgical Sterilization Induce an Adequate Antibody Response?” Vaccines 11(9):1418 (2023). Rabies vaccination administered at the time of spay/neuter surgery induced an adequate antibody response with no statistically significant difference from non-surgical vaccination; the authors recommend administering rabies vaccine perioperatively during spay/neuter campaigns. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11091418

“The Role of Dog Population Management in Rabies Elimination, A Review of Current Approaches and Future Opportunities,” Frontiers in Veterinary Science (2017). Humane population management tools such as sterilization can reduce dog population turnover and size, allowing rabies vaccination coverage to be maintained more easily. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2017.00109/full

Dürr S, Fahrion AS, Freuling CM, Léchenne M, Vigilato MAN, Recuenco SE, Müller T (eds.), “Rabies, a long-standing One Health example, Progress, Challenges, Lessons and Visions on the way to 0 by 30,” Frontiers Research Topic spanning Frontiers in Veterinary Science, Frontiers in Public Health, and Frontiers in Tropical Diseases (2021 to 2023). A 21-article, 151-author peer-reviewed collection documenting that mass dog vaccination is a proven principle and that One Health collaboration across animal and human health sectors is key to eliminating dog-mediated human rabies by 2030, with demonstrated economic savings. https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/19767/rabies-a-long-standing-one-health-example—progress-challenges-lessons-and-visions-on-the-way-to-0-by-30/magazine

Swedberg C, Mazeri S, Mellanby RJ, Hampson K, Chng NR. “Implementing a One Health Approach to Rabies Surveillance: Lessons From Integrated Bite Case Management,” Frontiers in Tropical Diseases 3:829132 (2022). Study of 14 Integrated Bite Case Management programs across 13 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, in which bite reports trigger cross-sector risk assessment and animal investigation; the paper notes Latin American countries have reduced dog-mediated rabies cases by over 98% through large-scale coordinated dog vaccination programs. https://doi.org/10.3389/fitd.2022.829132

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Interviews available: United Spay Alliance can provide an on-air guest to discuss the overlooked link between spay/neuter and rabies prevention, a fresh public health angle for World Rabies Day coverage, made urgent by the CDC’s September 2026 national advisory on rising rabies exposures. Contact Julie Bank, Interim Executive Director at 760-908-8058 or through www.unitedspayalliance.org.

Media Contact Information:

Julie Bank, Interim Executive Director
United Spay Alliance
P.O. Box 612, Walkersville, MD 21793
760-908-8058
unitedspayalliance.org | Toll free 888-590-0444
www.unitedspayalliance.org