Kuching: Dog is the main carrier of rabies as more than 95 per cent of human cases of rabies are due to bites from infected dogs, said Sarawak
Veterinary Department Director Dr. Adrian Susin Ambud.
Thus, controlling and eradicating rabies therefore means combatting it at its animal source, the solution being dog vaccination.
Dr. Adrian added that vaccination of dogs is the method of choice, because it is the only real way to interrupt the disease’s infectious
cycle between animals and humans.
Discussing the issue with SUPP Youth chief Tan Kai and Wilfred Yap on vaccination and controlling of rabies in Sarawak, Dr. Adrian said there are some countries have already managed to eradicate the disease by applying strict prophylactic measures. But it remains endemic in other countries, mainly affecting wild species.
He stressed that in countries where rabies is endemic, measures are in place to control and reduce the risk of infection in vulnerable populations (wildlife, stray and domestic animals) and create a
barrier between the animal source and humans.
Five persons, an adult and four children, two of whom were siblings died after being bitten by rabies infected dogs. The five were all from Serian and were bitten in April where the outbreak started.
Since then, the outbreak of rabies has spread to Sri Aman, Bau,
Samarahan and Kuching.
The Vet with the help of animal groups had pulled in stray dogs from the streets and vaccinated them. To-date, a total of 24,303 animals have been vaccinated, out of which 16,663 are dogs and 7,595 are cats and the rest, others.
On Wednesday, there was a report of 41 cases of dog bites, 13 cases from Serian, 4 from Sri Aman, 2 from Samarahan and 22 from Kuching.
To create awareness, the Sara-wak Veterinary Department has been organising talks in various kampungs and community centres to educate the people on how to help contain the spread of rabies and how to monitor their pets.
There were also several programmes carried out to vaccinate the pets for free by the department in several areas in the affected districts.
A few talks will be given to create rabies awareness and prevention. They are in Bahasa Malaysia held at Civic Centre at 11 am yesterday, in English on Friday at 7.30 pm at Dewan Masyarakat Kuching, on Saturday at Dewan Masyarakat at 7.30 pm in English, Sunday at Stutong Market 1st floor at 8 am in English and another one on Sunday in
Bahasa Malaysia at Dewan Perpaduan RPR Batu Kawa, Phase 1 at 8.15 pm. Those staying in the surrounding area are encouraged to go and listen to the talk.
