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The current outbreak of Ebola virus disease has mobilized the international community against this deadly disease. However, rabies, another deadly disease, is greatly affecting the African continent, with an estimated 25 000 deaths every year. And yet, the disease can be prevented by a vaccine, if necessary with immunoglobulin, even when administered after exposure to the rabies virus. Rabies victims die because of neglect and ignorance, because they are not aware of these life-saving biologicals, or because they cannot access them or do not have the money to pay for them. Breaking the cycle of indifference of rabies deaths in humans in Africa should be a priority of governments, international organizations and all stakeholders involved.

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As a follow-up to the first AfroREB (Africa Rabies Expert Bureau) meeting, held in Grand-Bassam (Côte-d'Ivoire) in March 2008, African rabies experts of the Afro-REB network met a second time to complete the evaluation of the rabies situation in Africa and define specific action plans. About forty French speaking rabies specialists from Northern, Western and Central Africa and Madagascar met in Dakar (Senegal), from March 16th to 19th, 2009. With the participation of delegates from Tunisia, who joined the AfroREB network this year, 15 French speaking African countries were represented. Experts from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, the Alliance for Rabies Control, and the Southern and Eastern African Rabies Group (SEARG, a network of rabies experts from 19 English speaking Southern and Eastern African countries) were in attendance, to participate in the discussion and share their experiences. AfroREB members documented 146 known human rabies cases in all represented countries combined for 2008, for a total population of 209.3 million, or an incidence of 0.07 cases per 100,000 people. Even admitting that the experts do not have access to all reported cases, this is far from the WHO estimation of 2 rabies deaths per 100,000 people in urban areas and 3.6 per 100,000 in rural Africa. It was unanimously agreed that the priority is to break the vicious cycle of indifference and lack of information which is the main barrier to human rabies prevention.