[16][17] The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends vaccinating those who are at high risk of the disease, such as children who live in areas where it is common.

[11] Other groups may include veterinarians, researchers, or people planning to travel to regions where rabies is common.

[20] Because the rabies virus has a relatively long incubation period, post-exposure vaccinations are typically highly effective.

[18] Following administration of a booster dose, one study found 97% of immunocompetent individuals demonstrated protective levels of neutralizing antibodies after ten years.

CCEEVs use inactivated rabies virus grown from either embryonated eggs or in cell cultures and are safe for use in humans and animals.

[30] The treatment started with a subcutaneous injection on 6 July 1885, at 8:00 pm, which was followed with 12 additional doses administered over the following 10 days.

The first injection was derived from the spinal cord of an inoculated rabbit which had died of rabies 15 days earlier.

[33] When the modern cell-culture rabies vaccine was first introduced in the early 1980s, it cost $45 per dose, and was considered to be too expensive.

This method is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in areas that are constrained by cost or with supply issues.

In 1979, the Van Houweling Research Laboratory of the Silliman University Medical Center in Dumaguete in the Philippines[38] developed and produced a dog vaccine that gave a three-year immunity from rabies.

The successful program in the Philippines was later used as a model by other countries, such as Ecuador and the Mexican state of Yucatán, in their fight against rabies conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organization.

[42] Oral rabies vaccines are distributed across the landscape, targeting reservoir species, in an effort to produce a herd immunity effect.

[45] Development of an oral immunization for wildlife began in the United States with laboratory trials using the live, attenuated Evelyn-Rokitnicki-Abselseth (ERA) vaccine, derived from the Street Alabama Dufferin (SAD) strain.

[46] The first ORV field trial using the live attenuated vaccine to immunize foxes occurred in Switzerland during 1978.

In the United States, RABORAL V-RG (Boehringer Ingelheim, Duluth, GA, USA) has been the only licensed ORV for rabies virus management since 1997.

[56] RABORAL V-RG baits consist of a small packet containing the oral vaccine which is then either coated in a fishmeal paste or encased in a fishmeal-polymer block.

[54] Current research suggests that if adequate amounts of the vaccine is ingested, immunity to the virus should last for upwards of one year.

[57] By immunizing wild or stray animals, ORV programs work to create a buffer zone between the rabies virus and potential contact with humans, pets, or livestock.

[60][61] Furthermore, ORV has been successful in preventing the westward expansion of the raccoon rabies enzootic front beyond Alabama.