Leaders of Arua District in West-Nile Region of Uganda have observed that one-two people die every month as a result of rabies that are caused by animal bites.
This observation was made by Mr. Alfred Okuonzi also the Arua District chairperson while addressing the media during the World Rabies day.
He said they would need to formulate by-laws that will be enforced to control animal movements. “People here do not chain or construct houses for their dogs.
They just allow them to stray around and this has caused problems for communities in the past. This must stop if we are not to experience dog bites in communities,” He noted.
Communities have not been taking the initiative to vaccinate their dogs, something which has become a health threat to communities.
“Rabies is preventable but our communities do not want their dogs to be vaccinated. This is endangering the lives of people and even other animals.” He added.
Okuonzi also noted that people have resorted to run to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for witchcraft cleansing instead of going for treatment and vaccinating their dogs and pets.
He called for community sensitization and awareness creation about the dangers of rabies and benefits of vaccinating their animal pets. Arua District Veterinary Officer, Dr Willy Nguma, says 187 cases of dog bites were reported from January to march this year with 25 to 35 cases of dog bites monthly.
“The school children are mostly at risk because they account for 75 per cent of the cases that we have registered and they remain vulnerable.
This is the trend we need to reverse with more sensitization on vaccination of these dogs,” he said. Emmanuel Isingoma, a senior veterinary officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries said the Ministry is targeting to vaccinate over 800 animals every year.
“Communities need to be given facts about rabies because it is preventable. We have a target of eliminating rabies by 2030 where we target to vaccinate 70 per cent of dogs in the coming years.”
He added that it is cheaper to vaccinate a pet animal than treating a rabies infected person.
Isingoma said that more than 59,000 people die every year World Wide because of rabies yet the disease is 100% preventable. He urged people to immediately wash the wound of any person who is affected by a dog bite with soap with running water for at least 15 minutes and also to seek medical advice from the nearest health experts. Rabies is a deadly virus spread to people from the saliva of infected animals.(By HENRY OKECH)
