From 2023 through August 2026, the Pan American Health Organization counted 62 human rabies cases in the Americas, and 32 of them traced back to a dog. The number is small beside the 50 million dogs the region vaccinates every year. It is also a reminder that the disease has not gone away.
On September 3, PAHO’s veterinary public health center, known as PANAFTOSA, launched a new guide from its base in Rio de Janeiro. Its title: “Methodology for Estimating Dog and Cat Populations in Latin America and the Caribbean.” The aim is plain enough: give countries better counts of the animals living among them, so that vaccination and disease control can be planned on real numbers.
Why the count matters
“Understanding the size, distribution, and characteristics of dog and cat populations is essential for guiding public health and animal health actions,” said Manuel Sánchez Vázquez, the center’s director. He described the guide as a practical tool for reliable information, for preventing diseases that pass from animals to people, and for decisions grounded in evidence under a One Health approach.
A city does not hold one kind of dog. Some animals have owners, some are looked after loosely by a household or a neighbourhood, and some roam free. Authorities who can tell those groups apart can aim their programmes better. Without that, planners lean on rough national estimates, and a vaccination campaign cannot say how much of the real population it reached.
What is in the guide
The methodology is standard in structure but meant to bend to local conditions. It comes with questionnaires that can be adjusted for a given town or district, checklists for teams in the field, and advice on analysing what they collect. PANAFTOSA says the approach suits different geographic and social settings, urban and rural. The Venezuelan health outlet AVISA noted that it lets local officials work out where the risk is highest, and El Salvador’s elsalvador.com reported that it draws on a review of methods used in other countries.
PAHO points out that people gain a great deal from dogs and cats, from company and emotional comfort to herding, guarding, pest control and help for people with disabilities. Problems start with irresponsible ownership, abandonment and uncontrolled breeding, which leave more animals on the street. Close contact can also spread rabies, sporotrichosis and visceral leishmaniasis among them.
The guide is published in Spanish.
Sources
- New tool will help countries in Latin America and the Caribbean prevent rabies and other zoonotic diseases
- OPS presenta nuevo método para mejorar la vacunación de perros y gatos (El Salvador)
- OPS y PANAFTOSA lanzan nueva metodología (AVISA Venezuela)
