Kerala’s expenditure on rabies vaccines for animals has risen sharply over the last nine years, yet human deaths due to rabies show no sign of decline. According to RTI data from the State Animal Husbandry Department, vaccine expenses jumped 957.55 per cent, from ₹13.9 lakh in 2016–17 to ₹1.47 crore in 2024–25. Meanwhile, a total of 146 people died of rabies between 2016 and September 10, 2025

Between 2016 and 2025, the state spent a total of ₹4.29 crore to procure 42.03 lakh doses of rabies vaccines. The per-dose cost rose steadily from ₹6.95 in 2016–17 to ₹14.70 in 2024–25, with only a slight dip in 2020–21, when doses were purchased at ₹7.03 each, the RTI data obtained by Kochi native Raju Vazhakkalla revealed.

Despite this, human deaths caused by rabies have increased. Data from the Directorate of Health Services shows that 146 people died of rabies between 2016 and September 10, 2025. Deaths spiked from five in 2016 to 22 in 2025 (till September), with annual figures showing eight deaths in 2017, nine in 2018, eight in 2019, five in 2020, 11 in 2021, 27 in 2022, 25 in 2023, and 26 in 2024.

The Directorate of Health Services earlier noted that most victims had sustained serious bites on the head, face, and neck, areas with dense nerve endings where the virus spreads rapidly. Others were bitten on arms and limbs. While stray dogs accounted for the majority of cases, wild cats, domestic dogs, and foxes were also responsible in certain instances.

Concerns over rising fatalities despite vaccination led the state government in 2022 to form an expert committee. Its findings confirmed that many deaths happened in cases where the virus was directly inoculated into highly innervated head, face, neck and interdigital areas of arms, leading to shorter incubation periods and failure of the vaccine to prevent infection.