Rabies deaths recorded in India far lesser than estimates from ICMR-led study

India reported 55 malaria deaths, 131 dengue deaths, and 27 kala-azar deaths in 2025, according to the Union Health Ministry. However, there is no single national system to measure annual human rabies mortality, despite the country's aim to eliminate dog-mediated rabies by 2030. A community-based study led by researchers from the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE) estimated 5,726 rabies deaths annually, while the Health Ministry's Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme reported 21, 50, and 54 rabies deaths in 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively.

The Registrar General of India's Medical Certification of Cause of Death system recorded 66 rabies deaths in 2022 and 271 in 2023. The MCCD system only covers medically certified deaths, not all registered deaths, leading to discrepancies in the figures. The government published a table showing one rabies death in January 2025, but no figure for the entire year.

A Lancet Infectious Diseases study estimated about 9.1 million animal bites in India each year, with 5.6 million being dog bites. The study's estimated 5,726 annual rabies deaths is a modeling estimate, not a count of hospital or government surveillance records. The gap between reported surveillance deaths and estimated mortality is significant, highlighting the need for improved data collection and collaboration in rabies eradication efforts.