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Article History

Received: 8 September 2025

Accepted: 23 May 2026

First Online: 28 May 2026

Declarations

Competing interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Ethical approval: All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. This study involving human participants was reviewed and approved by the CDC as not to be research, as the purpose of these activities was to investigate and assess a condition of public health importance. CDC Institutional Review Board (IRB) review was not required under the following provision: Public health surveillance activities, 45 CFR 46.102(l)(2). Written informed consent for participation was not required for this study in accordance with the Ministère de la Santé Publique et de la Population (MSPP) in Haiti and the IRB at the U.S. CDC (Public health surveillance activities, 45 CFR 46.102(l)(2)). The animal study was reviewed and approved by CDC Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Written informed consent for participation was not obtained from the owners because the purpose of this surveillance program is to monitor the occurrence of animal rabies cases in Haiti through the investigation of animal bites and through the testing of pathology samples from deceased animals. The surveillance program is a component of the national rabies control program, which includes vaccination programs, PEP guidelines, and animal quarantine and euthanasia policies. Surveillance will be used to inform ongoing practice within the national rabies control program. As an activity designed to monitor the occurrence of disease in a defined population, as well as to provide feedback to inform ongoing public health practice, this activity is consistent with the attributes of non-research public health practice, as described in current CDC policy.