The first ever case of Rabies in West Timor was reported in the district of South Central Timor (Timor Tengah Selatan: TTS) in May 2023 and this precipitated an emergency response by the local district authorities with support from the East Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Timur: NTT) provincial administration. AIHSP has strongly supported the government’s emergency response by providing technical assistance, training in dog handling and dog vaccination, designing and delivering Rabies awareness and risk reduction communications materials, coordinating support from other Australian projects and additional direct support from the Government of Australia, as well as facilitating support from international agencies.

The initial response was insufficient to control Rabies on Timor Island and the disease has now spread to three districts, threatening the remaining areas of West Timor. A national Rabies Task Force was established in November to strengthen the control of Rabies in NTT and this became operational in early 2024. AIHSP has coordinated closely with the Task Force at national, provincial, and district levels and has helped to define an operational plan for the progressive control and eradication of the disease. The project has also facilitated the delivery of additional technical support from Mission Rabies, an international NGO with specialist expertise in Rabies control. The Mission Rabies team provided further training in safe handling of dogs and management of vaccines and vaccine cold chains. Importantly, they also introduced an ‘app’ that assists in disease mapping, the prioritising of operational activities, and that also integrates smoothly with iSIKHNAS.^[1] The project has dramatically increased the capacity and capabilities of animal health officers to deliver an effective control program.

Eliminating the threat of Rabies to human health is a critical objective for NTT and it is recognised that, to eradicate the disease, Rabies must be eliminated from dogs and this requires mass vaccination. AIHSP has worked with national staff and academics from Kupang State Agricultural Polytechnic to develop disease control scenarios that model disease control options and their economic efficiencies (cost-benefit analysis). These scenario models are being used to advocate for sufficient commitment of resources to combat this disease in the short term and to avoid the long-term threat to human lives and ongoing costs of ineffective control.