Sri Lanka, Sept. 26 -- Sri Lanka is stepping up efforts to prevent rabies by expanding dog vaccination, sterilisation and public awareness programmes, with nearly 1.7 million dogs vaccinated in 2025 as the country continues its push to reduce human deaths from the disease, according to the National Anti-Rabies Campaign of the Public Health Veterinary Services.

The number of dogs vaccinated reached a record 1,690,887 last year, up from 1,280,775 in 2024 and 1,317,422 in 2023. The increase has coincided with a decline in human rabies deaths, which fell from 28 in 2022 to 16 in 2023, 20 in 2024 and 14 in 2025.

According to Dr Niroshan Gamage, Director of the National Anti-Rabies Campaign, dogs remain by far the main source of human rabies...