Rabies has remained prevalent in many countries despite evidence that controlling dog and other animal rabies through vaccination and eliminating stray dogs can reduce human rabies cases.

According to the World Health Organization, rabies is endemic on multiple continents and causes an estimated 60,000 deaths each year, with 40 percent of the victims being children. Rabid dogs are responsible for over 90 percent of human exposures to rabies and 99 percent of human rabies deaths worldwide.

In the Philippines, the Department of Health reported an increase in rabies cases and deaths, with more than 60 cases so far this year.

Rabies is a viral disease primarily transmitted through the saliva of infected animals, commonly through bites. The rabies virus affects the central nervous system; it is almost universally fatal once symptoms appear. While mammals can contract rabies, dogs are a primary transmission source to humans.