Strengthening rabies prevention and control in Dak Lak province

On the afternoon of March 20, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thien Van chaired an online conference with localities in the province to assess the situation of rabies prevention and control in animals in the province in recent times.

Conference scene.

The report at the Conference said that since the beginning of the year, there have been 23 provinces and cities nationwide with rabies outbreaks, killing and destroying 94 dogs. In Dak Lak, over the past 4 years (from 2021-2024), the rabies situation in dogs and cats has tended to increase. In the first 3 months of 2024 alone, the whole province had 8 cases of rabies in dogs and cats, ranking 3rd in the country. According to the report of the Provincial Center for Disease Control, since the beginning of 2024, there have been 4 deaths suspected of being due to rabies.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Do Xuan Dung informed at the conference.

The main reason for the increase in rabies is that some localities have not been able to manage the dog and cat population; the rabies vaccination for dogs and cats has not been effective, the rabies vaccination rate is still low, in 2023 it only reached an average of more than 37% of the total dog and cat population in the province; the propaganda work on rabies is not regular, continuous, and not effective; the rabies virus is still circulating in animals; sanctions have not been applied to handle violations of regulations on dog management, rabies vaccination for dogs and cats according to regulations...

Deputy Director of the Department of Health Hoang Nguyen Duy spoke at the conference.

In 2024, the Provincial Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine has issued and provided 2,500 doses of rabies vaccine for dogs and cats to vaccinate against the epidemic in localities where the epidemic occurred. Information and propaganda work on rabies prevention and control in animals has been actively implemented in many diverse forms. In addition, through monitoring and sampling for animal rabies testing in cases of suspected rabies, dogs biting people, and sick and dead dogs, 5/8 samples were positive for rabies virus, thereby showing that rabies virus is still circulating in many dogs and cats in the province. Therefore, the risk of rabies will continue to increase in the coming time in localities.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thien Van delivered a concluding speech at the conference.

Speaking at the conference, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thien Van emphasized that in order to effectively implement the work of preventing and controlling rabies in the period of 2022-2030 in Dak Lak province, departments, branches and localities need to drastically and synchronously deploy solutions to prevent and control rabies according to regulations; strengthen the management of dogs and cats, accurately count the number of households raising dogs and cats, the total number of dogs and cats and instruct household owners to commit to declaring and keeping dogs and cats in accordance with veterinary hygiene conditions, not affecting people around; proactively allocate funds to purchase and supplement chemicals and vaccines for rabies prevention in animals, and at the same time organize rabies vaccination to reach 70% of the total dog and cat population in the period of 2022-2025.

In addition, it is necessary to strengthen propaganda work to raise people's awareness of the dangers of rabies to humans; actively propagate measures to prevent rabies, enhance the responsibility of dog and cat owners towards the community; direct the thorough handling of the situation of stray dogs in the area, and strictly handle cases of non-compliance with the management and vaccination of rabies for pet dogs and cats...

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