It's believed at least 132 people have died since the epidemic broke out in October 2008.
An island-wide dog vaccination program has been launched as Indonesian authorities struggle to get the outbreak under control.
Presenter: Rebecca Boteler
Speaker: Levin Kalalo, from The Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA); James Mcgrane, from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO); Janice Girardi, founder of BAWA
SFX: Dogs barking
BOTELER: On an island where more than 300,000 dogs roam free, the rabies virus has turned man's best friend into an enemy.
KALALO: More than 100 people died, so I can assume that's very serious.
BOTELER: The first human fatality was in late 2008. Since then the number has grown to at least 132.
But because Bali doesn't have proper reporting procedures, the toll could be higher.
James Mcgrane is the team leader of the FAO, the United Nations agency responsible for advising the Indonesian government.
MCGRANE: The introduction of rabies to Bali was to a native dog population, a population that had never been vaccinated against the disease, therefore was totally susceptible to the disease, so in cases such as this, an outbreak can spread quite rapidly.
BOTELER: Rabies is a viral disease which travels through the central nervous system and attacks the brain.
It can lay dormant in the body for months, meaning people have no idea they've contracted the virus, which is usually passed on through the saliva of a rabid animal.
Post exposure treatment is effective, only if it's administered within days of infection.
Dr Mcgrane says treatment must be administered before symptoms start to show.
MCGRANE: If the person who has been exposed to the virus does not receive post exposure treatment, then the outcome is usually fatal.
SFX: Dogs barking
BOTELER: The Bali Animal Welfare Agency is at the coal face of the rabies epidemic.
ANIMAL WORKER: This is the one that's on rabies watch, it came in a few days ago.
GIRARDI: This is the dog from Payengong I'm thinking, oh my god this dog looks like they tried to beat it to death because of the sores on it and she certainly doesn't look like she has rabies.
BOTELER: BAWA founder Janice Girardi says one of the difficulties they face is that it can be difficult to tell whether a dog has rabies.
GIRARDI: Most people think that if a dog looks sick, it has rabies, they think if a dog looks healthy, it cannot have rabies and that's a serious issue.
In October last year, BAWA and the Balinese authorities launched phase one of a mass dog vaccination program which was partly funded by the Australian government.
Project coordinator for BAWA Levin Kalalo says dogs in more than four thousand Balinese villages were vaccinated over a six month period.
KALALO: So we're training almost 400 dogs catchers during the first phase and we vaccinate almost 270,000 dogs.
BOTELER: The program has seen some initial success. BAWA's figures show that between March and July this year, there was an 85 per cent reduction in human deaths and an 80 per cent reduction in cases in dogs compared to the previous year.
Phase two of the program started in May this year and will continue until the end of this month (September).
One of the obstacles for authorities is that the Balinese people, acting out of fear, are taking matters into their own hands by culling dogs, many of which have already been vaccinated.
GIRARDI: Dr Kadek just came down to tell us that he received a phone call from Moss village which is about 15 minutes from where we are and a dog had bitten somebody and the villagers clubbed the dog to death, they haven't buried it yet so we're rushing there to pick up the dog.
BOTELER: Levin Kalalo says culling is counter productive because a certain level of immunity has to be maintained in order to fight rabies.
It's called herd immunity and it's set at 70 per cent.
KALALO: The whole objective of mass vaccination program is how we can vaccinate as much dogs as possible to maintain herd immunity. But if people got panicked because they don't have the proper knowledge what is the use of vaccinated dogs again they're going to see the dogs as the carrier, that's it.
BOTELER: He says vaccinated dogs can help eradicate rabies by keeping rabid dogs out of their local community, not giving them the chance to spread the virus during the 14 days they're infectious before they die.
He says BAWA's job now is to educate people about vaccinating their animals, especially new litters of puppies, which can contract the disease from their mothers.
KALALO: It's how the same message can be announced to people that never heard radio or never read newspapers, so I think education is the main challenge here.
BOTELER: Dr McGrane says they're also educating Bali's quarantine officers.
MCGRANE: To ensure dogs being introduced to Bali from other areas of Indonesia and there are 23 other provinces which have a rabies problem, that the quarantine authorities on the island of Bali are aware of need to enforce strict inspection measures.
BOTELER: Dr Mcgrane says they hope to eradicate the disease by the end of next year.
MCGRANE: This will involve an increased surveillance program over the next year so that we're in a position to know whether the virus has been eliminated from Bali.
BOTELER: Janice Girardi says the government also needs to commit to phase three of the vaccination program if it's going to win the fight against rabies.
GIRARDI: No one should be bragging about the success of the program. We still have rabies cases and rabies can come back quickly and with a vengeance.
