Dear Editors,

Disorganized health services, absence of wildlife vaccinations and lack of funds have made Greece lose its rabies-free status after 25 years! [1][2][3][4][5]

Millions of tourists, that visit Greece every year, might choose a different destination next year, after reading international rabies warnings. [1][4]

The amount of the economic damage to Greece’s tourism industry could rise to several billion pounds.

If big numbers of Greek farmers and villagers are vaccinated against rabies, blood donated in Greece could be at risk for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). [6]

References

[1] https://www.nathnac.org/pro/clinical_updates/rabies_greece_231012.htm

[2] http://www.jordbruksverket.se/swedishboardofagriculture/engelskasidor/an...

[3] http://www.defra.gov.uk/animal-diseases/files/poa-rabies-fox-greece.pdf

[4] http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1317136644107

[5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WekgncedavY

[6] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2352896/

Competing interests: None declared