rabies in haiti rabies in haiti rabies is a viral disease that exists in haiti and throughout the world. it often causes fatal inflammation of the brain in humans and other mammals, such as dogs and mongooses in haiti. the term "rabies" is derived from a latin word that means "to rage"; rabid animals sometimes appear to be angry. early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure, followed by one or more of the following symptoms: violent movements, uncontrolled excitement, fear of water, an inability to move parts of the body, confusion, and loss of consciousness. once symptoms appear, death is nearly always the outcome. the time period between contracting the disease and showing symptoms is usually one to three months; however, this time period can vary from less than a week to more than a year. the time between contraction and the onset of symptoms is dependent on the distance the virus must travel to reach the central nervous system. rabies in haitihaitian clinic where solar power is used to refrigerate rabies vaccinespecialtyinfectious diseasesymptomsfever, fear of water, confusioncausesrabies viruspreventionrabies vaccine, animal control, rabies immunoglobulinprognosisnearly always deathdeaths17,400 (2015) haiti is one of five remaining countries in the americas where canine rabies is still a problem, and it has the highest rate of human rabies deaths in the western hemisphere. following the 2010 earthquake, rabies caused an estimated two deaths per week. only a small number of these rabies deaths were reported to health authorities due to the impact of the earthquake, limitations in testing capacity, and lack of awareness and education about the disease among haitians. epidemiology globally, 59,000 people die from rabies each year. this is the equivalent of one person dying every nine minutes, with half of the people who die from rabies being under the age of 15. the pan american health organization (paho) and the pan american center of foot-and-mouth disease (panaftosa) led a mission to eliminate dog-mediated rabies in the american region by 2015. these organizations are cognizant of the regional control of rabies. the paho and panaftosa visited haiti in early december, 2013, and the objectives of the mission were to assess the status of haiti's rabies program as delivered by the haitian ministry of agriculture, natural resources and rural development (marndr) and the ministry of health (mspp). the mission was to seek opportunities for collaboration between haiti, brazil, and the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) in haiti. even in 2017, rabies in haiti is still identified as a national problem, even with pep proposed. treatment