h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...can be found in WHO's World Surveys of Rabies.

The most recent one I could find on the net is from 1998, and it mentions several countries and territories where no rabies was reported in 1998:

Africa: 6
Americas: 6
Asia: 10
Europe: 18
Oceania: 12

Its amazing, once provided with the necessary info, just HOW many threats there are to
an individual. Surely though, eradication of rabies is possible? If we can make it virtually non-existant
here in the UK...why cant everyone else? It makes my head spin when I see countries like America NOT taking such
simple steps to get rid of a problem. No matter what it is.
Another little hypocrisy leading on from this would be the double standards of our British
government. They put animals in quarantine for 6 months...but allow
all the immigrants - who could be carrying numerous SERIOUS diseases - they want.
This place is too small!

#If we can make it virtually non-existant here in the UK...why cant everyone else#

Ah, but there was no actual eradication project. It just went because the fact that the UK is an island made it easy to apply quarantine laws.
It wasn't a special 'get rid of rabies' strategy. Countries in Europe don't have the luxury of setting up quarantine.
If an illegal immegrant was carrying rabies they'd soon know about it.

Hmmm... most of the countries and territories mentioned as free of rabies in the WHO report are actually divided by water from other parts of the world...

I hardly think quarantine could be considered a luxury...more of a necessity if it could halp minimise the risk to both humans and animals.
RE : Illegal immigrants...that comment wasnt necessarily restricted to rabies. I simply meant that there is a slight hypocrisy in letting God knows
how many people into countries without quarantine...yet animals are enforced to the highest extreme.
Not even with the world situation as it is, are people being checked. If, and this is not meant to provoke nor offend, a person is willing
to blow themselves up, what is stopping them from ingesting/carrying a highly deadly disease.
There is no cure for quite a few of them...

But I divulge.
My point is, with something that appears to be just SO hard to transfer from body - body, wouldnt it just be easier to attempt to eradicate it NOW...than before it
mutates, or gets out of hand. It would leave everyone free to deal with the larger problems...

Just a few thoughts. Afraid they arent based on too many statistics...feel free to correct me!

RE : The WHO report...does it show/mention what type of terrain seems to be most common for enhancing the spread of the disease? Could this be a factor?

I didn't read it all through, but you'll easily find it...

it starts with the usual WWW
and you know the abbreaviation for it WHO
and it's an ORGanization

search for 'rabies'