B

ali will need at least four years to eliminate the rabies epidemic from the island, says a expert.

IGN Mahardika, a virologist at the University of Udayana's School of Husbandry, told reporters that Bali needs to work harder over the next two years to reduce the number of rabies-infected dogs.

Mahardika and a number of experts are working on a comprehensive evaluation of the government's existing antirabies prevention and eradication programs, launched in November 2008.

"If Bali wants to eradicate its status as a rabies-infected island, it has to be free from any rabies-related cases within two years," said Mahardika, adding that he was pessimistic about Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika's campaign to free the island of rabies by 2012.

Mahardika admitted that his previous prediction that Bali could be rabies free within a year was no longer accurate.

"I previously thought we could localize the affected area in Kuta. In reality the epidemic is widespread throughout neighboring regencies in Tabanan, Denpasar mayoralty, Gianyar, Klungkung and Karangasem," he explained.

According to Mahardika, the high cost of vaccinations and eliminating affected dogs were not sufficient to curb the epidemic.

"The program is not working properly. There is no strict control over animal traffic within regencies and vaccination programs were not carried out en masse," he said.

Regional administrations have also failed to adequately tackle the problem in their respective areas, he said.

"It is a pity the new health minister had no idea that Bali was affected by the rabies epidemic," he added.

A number of husbandry office heads are not veterinarians and therefore have limited knowledge about rabies, making it difficult for them to cope with the urgent situation, Mahardika explained.

Responding to this evaluation, Dr. Made Sukerni, head of Bali Husbandry's drug prevention office, said the Bali government's antirabies program would continue to work toward its 2012 target.

"We are optimistic we can eliminate the epidemic by 2012 as stated by the governor," Sukerni said.

I Ketut Subrata from the Bali Health Agency said his office regularly reported cases of rabies in Bali to the Health Ministry in Jakarta. "We don't have any comment regarding the new health minister's recent statement about the rabies epidemic in Bali," Subrata said.

The rabies epidemic originated in Bukit Pecatu, in the Jimbaran area of South Kuta. The epidemic then spread throughout the island and has so far claimed more than a dozen lives.

In Flores, East Nusa Tenggara province, Mahardika said rabies was spread through dog meat sold by food vendors.

"There are a lot of food vendors in Bali that sell dog-based dishes locally known as RW. We have to closely monitor the consumption and sale of dog meat," he said.

In addition to the vaccination and mass culling of stray dogs, Mahardika reminded the local authorities to coordinate with their colleagues in neighboring islands.

"Many fishermen from East Nusa Tenggara and Sulawesi bring dogs into Bali," he said, adding that uncontrolled inter-island animal trafficking was dangerous.