Prof. Louis Nel
Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC), South Africa, March 2020
Louis Nel, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and Executive Director for the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC), received a Rabies Hero Award for his demonstrated dedication towards the prevention, control and eventual elimination of rabies. Under Nel’s leadership, GARC and his team at the University of Pretoria, along with their global contributors, have founded the Pan African and Asian Rabies Control Networks, PARACON and ARACON, respectively, as well as the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Northern African Rabies Control Network (MERACON).
Louis believes strongly in the roles of the international community and national governments — working together — to eliminate rabies for both the health of dogs but also humans. “The international community role includes global advocacy, the coordination of regional and global inter-sectoral rabies networks, vaccine security, and the provision of practical education”, he asserts. His vision of a world without rabies has been inspirational. “The elimination of dog-mediated human rabies is an ambitious goal, which would not only put an end to one of the world’s oldest, deadliest and ugliest zoonoses, but which would also make an immense contribution towards the validation of the modern-day One Health concept,” comments Louis.
