Agonizing rabies deaths can be stopped worldwide

Ridding the world of rabies in humans is cost-effective and achievable through mass dog vaccination programs, an international team of researchers says. A rabies vaccine has long existed. Even so, the disease kills an estimated 69,000 people worldwide -- that's 189 each day. Forty percent of them are children, mostly in Africa and Asia. The disease is spread primarily through the saliva of infected dogs. Once a person develops symptoms, the chance that he or she will die is nearly 100-percent.