B

ali Veterinary Agency will hold mass rabies vaccination pro-grams throughout the island in February next year, with the goal of immunizing 70 percent of the canine population in each affected regency.

"We will conduct the vaccinations by establishing a center in each banjar *customary village*," AA. Putri Jayaningsih, the head of the agency's monitoring, prevention and supervision division, said. Each village, consisting of several banjar, in all regencies will have a vaccination post.

The agency has prepared 200,000 doses of vaccines for dogs, comprising 137,000 doses of the anti-Rabivet vaccine and 60,000 dosages of the Rabicin vaccine.

As of Tuesday, the agency had vaccinated 136,090 dogs and put down 38,757 dogs, out of a total population of 500,000 dogs on the island.

Except for Denpasar, Badung and Tabanan, vaccination has not yet reached 70 percent of the canine population in most affected regencies.

"It is difficult to cover 70 percent of the canine population in each regency as required by the WHO, due to geographical conditions and the willingness of the dog owners," Putri said.

She said dogs in Klungkung and Jembrana had not been vaccinated because no rabies cases had been reported in those two regencies.

Another hurdle to tackling rabies in the island was the ineffective re-vaccination, she added, citing Denpasar, where only 8,000 of 21,000 dogs had been given booster vaccines. In Badung, only 6,000 of nearly 20,000 dogs received the second dose of vaccines.

"Revaccination is crucial to the dog developing suitable antibodies. If absent, the first vaccination will not provide adequate protection and the dog will remain susceptible to infection," Putri said.

"We welcome NGOs or animal rights groups to help us by participating in the vaccination program."

Despite the widespread infec-tion, many dog owners remain ignorant of the importance of vaccinations.

"I have only just had my dog vaccinated. I thought it was healthy since it never leaves the house," Mahayuni said when bringing her dog to the agency office.

Apart from vaccinations, the agency is conducting a census to ascertain the canine population in all regencies.

The agency still uses a ratio of 8:1, meaning one dog for every eight residents, in line with 2008 data from the Central Statistics Agency.

Data from the FAO showed the worldwide average was 16:1.

Rabies has claimed 25 lives in Bali, with two deaths in Tabanan in the last two weeks.