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Mass rabies vaccination program targets thousands of dogs in Riau
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Preventive measure -- A vet vaccinates a dog in Kampung Melo on Aug. 31.
(JP/Markus Makur)
T
housands of dogs in Bengkalis regency, Riau, will be vaccinated for rabies following the revocation of the rabies-free status of Bengkalis Island by the government in September.
The Bengkalis Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Agency’s animal health director Tuti Amlizarti said her agency had received 3,000 doses of rabies vaccines from the Riau administration. Her agency will use these vaccines in a mass vaccination program in Bengkalis and Bantan, the two districts most prone to rabies.
“The vaccination program targets around 2,000 individual animals, 1,780 of which are dogs belonging to local people. The mass vaccination will cover 29 out of 54 villages in the regency,” Tuti said on Wednesday.
Based on the agency’s data, 19 rabies cases have been confirmed in the regency between 2009 and 2015. Of that total, 11 cases were found on Bengkalis Island and two cases on Rupat Island. Meanwhile, the remaining six cases occurred in Bengkalis regency areas, located on the Sumatra mainland.
During the period, three people, two from Bengkalis Island and one from Rupat Island, died from rabies after being bitten by rabies-infected dogs.
“Rabies is a zoonotic disease, which means it can spread from animals to humans,” said Tuti.
The Bengkalis administration hopes that by the end of October, 70 percent of the targeted dogs and other rabies-spreading animals will be vaccinated in Bengkalis and Bantan.
“So far, 457 dogs, 451 cats and seven monkeys in 29 villages have been vaccinated,” said Tuti. (ebf)
