Organic waste mismanagement supports free-roaming dog populations and increases rabies risk in endemic regionsWaste Management Linked to Rabies Risk from Free-Roaming Dogs

Rabies remains a neglected tropical disease in many endemic regions of Asia and Africa, where dogs are the principal source of human rabies transmission. Poorly managed organic, household, food, and municipal solid waste can provide predictable food resources that support the survival, aggregation, and persistence of free-roaming dogs in human-dominated environments. This narrative review aimed to synthesize evidence on how organic waste mismanagement supports free-roaming dog populations in rabies-endemic countries and how this environmental pathway may indirectly influence dog-bite risk, rabies exposure, and progress toward eliminating dog-mediated human rabies deaths by 2030. A structured search for peer-reviewed articles published in English between 2010 and 2026 was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Eligible studies addressed organic waste, free-roaming dog ecology, human–dog interactions, rabies, dog bite risk, surveillance, vaccination, dog population management, and One Health interventions. The evidence was organized into analytical themes and integrated using thematic narrative synthesis, with country-specific findings used to illustrate common patterns and contextual differences. Household waste, market waste, restaurant waste, butcher shop waste, and open dumps were associated with dog presence, scavenging, aggregation, movement, and population persistence by providing accessible food resources. Human practices, including open waste disposal, intentional feeding, dog abandonment, and unrestricted dog ownership, further maintained dogs’ access to these resources. Waste-associated dog aggregation may increase opportunities for dog–dog and human–dog contact and complicate vaccination and humane population management programs. Rabies prevention was further constrained by incomplete vaccination coverage, inadequate dog population estimates, underreporting, limited or unequal access to post-exposure prophylaxis, weak surveillance, and insufficient intersectoral coordination. However, direct causal evidence that reducing accessible organic waste leads to reductions in dog density, dog-bite incidence, or rabies transmission remains limited. Organic waste mismanagement is a neglected environmental pathway that may indirectly contribute to the risk of dog-mediated rabies. Waste management should complement mass dog vaccination, humane population management, responsible ownership, community education, surveillance, and timely postexposure prophylaxis within an integrated One Health framework.