Menu Closing the Circle on Rabies For more than a decade, Merck has contributed to the fight against rabies. Africa Afya Serengeti Project India Mission Rabies Africa and India together bear the burden of 80 percent of total annual rabies deaths. Rabies affects domestic and wild animals. Dogs are the source of the vast majority of human rabies deaths. While not much of a threat in industrialized countries because of widespread and effective programs to prevent dog to human transmission, rabies remains a common and dangerous threat in many parts of the world. Did you Know... Rabies is... a 100 percent preventable disease. caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system and is transmitted between species through a bite or scratch from an infected person or animal. And, that... exposure to rabid dogs is still the cause of more than 90 percent of human exposures to rabies and of more than 99 percent of human deaths worldwide. 10% PREVENTABLE Published Sept. 2017 Copyright. © 2009-2017 Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Forward-Looking Statement Privacy Terms of Use Site Map