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E. Nusa Tenggara reduces rabies through mass vaccination
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On track -- Health and zoonosis experts pose for a picture after a discussion on rabies control held by the UN's FAO in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, on Tuesday. (thejakartapost.com/Markus Makur)
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mass vaccination of dogs has led to a decline in rabies cases in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), especially in Flores and Lembata islands.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) health and zoonosis control national technical adviser, Andri Jatikusumah, said the number of dog rabies cases in Flores and Lembata had continued to decline, thanks to massive vaccination programs the body had held on the islands since 2013.
He said 166,963 out of a total of 253,000 dogs in 946 out of around 1,600 villages across Flores and Lembata had been vaccinated in 2014 while during the second mass vaccination in 2015, 250,865 out of a total of 368,869 dogs in 1,316 villages were vaccinated.
“Since the mass vaccination was first initiated, dog rabies cases in Flores and Lembata have been in constant decline,” said Jatikusumah at a workshop on rabies control in Labuan Bajo, NTT, on Tuesday.
“In 2015, the number of rabies cases in dogs was 14, down from 24 cases in the previous year. Meanwhile, there were three cases of rabies-infected dogs biting people in 2015, down from five cases in the previous year,” he said.
Jatikusumah said it was expected that 300,000 out of an estimated 400,000 dogs from 1,600 villages in Flores and Lembata would be vaccinated in 2016.
He said the FAO had continued to give rabies-control training to relevant officials in Flores and Lembata and provide supporting facilities, such as vaccine cold storage.
“We are working together with local administrations, Catholic churches and customary leaders to control the spread of rabies on the islands,” said Jatikusumah. (ebf)
