Rabies is a fatal but preventable viral disease. It can spread to people and pets if they are bitten or scratched by a rabid animal. Symptoms include fever, headache, excess salivation, muscle spasms, paralysis and mental confusion.

28th September is observed as World Rabies Day , an international awareness campaign coordinated by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, a non-profit organization headquartered in the United States.

The first written record of rabies causing death in dogs and humans is found in the Mosaic Esmuna Code of Babylon in 2300 B.C. In 1804, Georg Gottfried Zinke first transmitted rabies from a rabid dog to a normal one, and from dog to a rabbit and a hen, by injection of saliva. This proved that the disease was infectious.

World Rabies Day takes place annually on September 28, the anniversary of the death of Louis Pasteur , developer of the first efficacious rabies vaccine. The first World Rabies Day campaign took place in 2007, as a partnership between the Alliance for Rabies Control and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will organize a free anti-rabies vaccination camp for pet and stray dogs on Wednesday on the occasion of World Rabies Day in 5 locations- Pocket A-3 Mayur Vihar, Community Centre Malviya Nagar, Veterinary Hospital Nangli, Sector-17 Dwarka and DC Chowk Sector 9/13 Rohini.