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Cediel-Becerra et al. One Health Implement Res 2023;3:42-54 One Health &
DOI: 10.20517/ohir.2023.01
Implementation Research

Opinion Open Access

Lessons learned from the history of rabies
vaccination in Colombia using the one health

approach

2
4
3
Natalia Cediel-Becerra 1 , Roseanna Collins , Daniela Restrepo-Botero , María Camila Pardo , Luis
5
Joaquin Polo , Luis Carlos Villamil 6
1
Epidemiology and Public Health Group, School of Agricultural Sciences, Universidad de La Salle, Bogotá 111711, Colombia.
2
UK Health Security Agency, London, SW1P 3JR UK.
3
School of Agricultural Sciences, Universidad de La Salle, Bogotá 111711, Colombia.
4
Animal Health Industry Consultant, Athens, GA 30605. USA.
5
Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y de Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá 110321, Colombia.
6
Sociedad Colombiana de Historia de la Medicina y de la Academia Nacional de Medicina de Colombia, Bogotá 111711,
Colombia.
Correspondence to: Prof. Natalia Cediel-Becerra, Epidemiology and Public Health Group, School of Agricultural Sciences,
Universidad de La Salle, Cra. 7 # 179-03, Bogotá 111711, Colombia. E-mail: nmcedielb@unisalle.edu.co
How to cite this article: Cediel-Becerra N, Collins R, Restrepo-Botero D, Pardo MC, Polo LJ, Villamil LC. Lessons learned from the
history of rabies vaccination in Colombia using the one health approach. One Health Implement Res 2023;3:42-54.
https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/ohir.2023.01
Received: 1 Jan 2023 First decision: 27 Apr 2023 Revised: 24 May 2023 Accepted: 14 Jun 2023 Published: 25 Jun 2023

Academic Editor: Charles E. Rupprecht Copy Editor: Pei-Yun Wang Production Editor: Pei-Yun Wang

Abstract
Canine and human rabies vaccination in Colombia began at the National Institute of Health in the second decade of
the 20th century. The National Veterinary School (the National University of Colombia) also contributed to the
vaccination and diagnosis of canines, in addition to the diagnosis of rabies in wildlife. A combination of
international cooperation and, from the 1960s onwards, increased funding of several national institutions to
support the production of animal vaccines served to further progress rabies research, vaccination campaigns and
diagnosis in Colombia. The country’s success in controlling canine-transmitted rabies, resulting in an
approximately 90% reduction in national human rabies cases, was recognised throughout the Americas;
consequently, the activities were modelled in other nations of the region. Additionally, the Ministry of Health
played a key role in controlling bovine outbreaks to minimise infection risk in animal carcasses for human
consumption in northern Colombia. However, in 2000, the public laboratories for vaccine production for humans
and animals were closed, creating a gap in cost-effective disease control strategies in the country. In reviewing the

© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
indicate if changes were made.

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