“Official” Indian human rabies death toll of 20,000 ignored government’s own data & appears to have been based on 101-year-old research
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2012:
DELHI, CHENNAI–Collecting current data about disease
incidence in India since 2003, the Indian Central Bureau of Health
Intelligence has known for nearly 10 years that the oft-claimed
Indian human rabies death toll of 20,000 per year is high by a factor
of nearly 100.
Often cited by politicians and media, the 20,000 figure has
repeatedly inflamed rabies panics, including street dog massacres
and mob attacks on humane societies that participate in the federally
sponsored Animal Birth Control program. Funded by the Animal Welfare
Board of India since2003, the ABC program seeks to replace lethal
dog population control with sterilization.