Rabies’ death increases manifold in two years: Center

Although the number of estimated cases of human rabies has come down from 4,885 to 1,079 in 2024, 2024 in 2024 in 2024, the number of rabies deaths in 2024 increased to 180, in 2022 in 2022, 2222, the Ministry of Animal Husbandry informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (August 5, 2025).

In 2024, the highest number of deaths occurred from Tamil Nadu (43), followed by Karnataka (42) and Andhra Pradesh (39). In 2023, 121 people died of rabies and 2,223 prescribed cases were reported.

In a written reply to a question of Member of Parliament from Kerala Ada Prakash, Union Minister of State, Animal Husbandry SP Singh Baghel said that the municipalities are mandatory to control the stray dog population. “Municipalities are implementing animal birth control (ABC) program to stabilize the stray dog population,” he said, “he said, the Center emphasizes the animal birth control rules issued by the Center, the primary tool for the dog’s population management and emphasizes vaccinations of anti -rabies as the primary tool for dog population management.

ABC program implementation

“The Central Government and the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) have issued several advice to ensure effective implementation of ABC program. Recently, on July 21, 2025, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (Mohua) Secretaries (MOP), Panchayati Raj (MOP), ABCARING (DAHD) issued a joint advisory (DAHD) for a joint advisory (DAHD). The infrastructure, ”he said.

The minister said that according to the rules of 2023, provision has been made for society and local bodies for the prevention of society (SPCA) for the operation of ABC and 800 per dog and of 600 per cat. He said, “A grant of ₹ 2 crore has been provided for the state -run veterinary hospitals for the development of infrastructure including surgical theater, kennel and recovery units,” he said.