peer reviewed ; The Belgian national programme for rabies elimination by fox vaccination began in 1989. Five vaccination campaigns, covering the entire infected area (10000 km(2)), were carried out from autumn 1989 until autumn 1991. The two first campaigns were conducted using both an attenuated rabies virus strain (SAD B19) and a vaccinia-rabies recombinant virus (V-RG) as vaccines. Since autumn 1990, the V-RG vaccine has been used exclusively. Such campaigns induced a drastic decrease in the incidence of rabies and allowed the elimination of the disease from 80% of the initial infected area. Considering the limited distribution of rabies in Belgium and in adjacent regions of neighbouring countries, successive restricted campaigns were conducted in 1992, 1993 and 1994 along the political borders only. These campaigns resulted in a new decrease in the incidence of the disease and no more rabid foxes were detected in 1993. From 1994 to 1996, rabies spread again from a border residual focus reinfecting a 3000 km(2) previously freed area. Thanks to a modified strategy of vaccination and a good crossborder cooperation, the newly reinfected focus could be controlled. The last rabies case was a bovine recorded on the 17th Of July 1999 in the administrative entity of Bastogne, close to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg. The last case of fox rabies was recorded on the 3(rd) of April 1998 in the same entity. According to the International Office of Epizootics guidelines (1997) and the World Health Organization recommandations (1992), Belgium, conjointly with the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, should be officially declared rabies-free in 2001. ; En Belgique, le programme d'élimination de la rage par la vaccination orale du renard roux(Vulpes vulpes) a débuté en 1989. De 1989 à 1991, l'ensemble du territoire infecté (10000 km2) fut traité à cinq reprises. Lors des deux premières campagnes de vaccination, deux types de vaccins ont été utilisés : la souche atténuée du virus rabique SAD B19 et le virus recombinant vaccine-rage (V-RG). ...