Conference Abstract | Volume 9, Abstract 057 (ConfProc7) | Published: 01 Jul 2026
Ziyadah Suleman1,&, Pheobe Balangumyetime2, Charles Lwanga Noora1, Donne Ameme1 , Ernest Kenu1
1Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program, University of Ghana School of Public Health, Accra, Ghana, 2Ghana Health Service, Nadowli Kaleo District, Upper Region Ghana
&Corresponding author: Ziyadah Suleman, Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program, University of Ghana School of Public Health, Accra, Ghana, Email: ziyadahgbene@gmail.com
Received: 29 Aug 2025, Accepted: 28 Oct 2025, Published: 01 Jul 2026
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Rabies, animal anti-rabies vaccination, vaccination coverage, Upper West Region
©Ziyadah Suleman et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Ziyadah Suleman et al. Animal anti-rabies vaccination coverage, Upper West Region, Ghana, 2024. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2026;9(ConfProc7):057. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO7-0057
Rabies, a vaccine-preventable zoonosis, occurs in most parts of the world, causing over 60,000 deaths globally. Achieving and maintaining a minimum vaccination coverage of 70% is recommended by WHO to eliminate rabies. However, Upper West Regional veterinary reports show low uptake of anti-rabies vaccine. Data on animal anti-rabies vaccination is generated in the region; however, no robust analysis is done on this data. This study sought to analyze and describe the animal anti-rabies vaccination data by animal species, districts and time.
A secondary data analysis was conducted on animal anti-rabies vaccination data compiled from monthly veterinary reports in the Upper West Region from 2019 to 2023. Study population included dogs, cats and monkeys reported to have been vaccinated against rabies in the region from 2019 to 2023. Data was analysed descriptively by animal species and districts by computing frequencies and proportions, and time by mapping trends. Results were presented as text, tables, and figures.
A total of 32,874 animals were vaccinated during the period, out of which majority, 28,568 (86.9%) were dogs and the least 26 (0.1%) were monkeys. The highest vaccination coverage in dogs was 20.1%, recorded in 2020, and least was 8.7% recorded in 2021. Lambussie district reported the highest number of vaccinated animals 7,574 (23%), while Sissala West district reported the least 984 (3%). An increasing trend from 2021 to 2023 was observed in the yearly trend of the number of animals vaccinated against rabies.
Animal anti-rabies vaccination figures and coverage in the Upper West region have been low for the past few years despite efforts to increase vaccination coverage. Dogs were the most vaccinated among vaccinated animals. We recommend community education on rabies in all parts of the region to improve vaccination coverage.
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