To prevent and control rabies, Phu Yen Province requires heads of households to register and hold captivity within the family compound. Picture: KS.
State exactly how many households have dogs and cats
The Phu Yen Provincial People’s Committee has just issued Guideline No. 08 on Strengthening Urgent Measures to Prevent and Control Rabies.
Accordingly, the Provincial People’s Committee requires municipalities to compile statistics and accurately report the number of households that keep dogs and cats. At the same time, guide and encourage the owner of the dog and cat household to commit to explaining and complying with the keeping of dogs and cats on the family premises.
If the dog is allowed outside the home, it must be leashed, muzzled, and have someone walk it to prevent biting, especially with aggressive dog breeds that must be chained and muzzled.
In addition, based on the actual situation on the ground, a decision will be made to set up a team to capture loose dogs and cats that are not muzzled and suspected of having rabies.
Phu Yen Province also requires municipalities to instruct communities with low vaccination rates to continue to coordinate with the veterinary sector to thoroughly vaccinate domestic dogs and cats and ensure vaccination rates exceed 70% and over 80% of the 2022-2025 period Total herd must reach % in 2026-2030. In addition, you should regularly check and supplement vaccinations to avoid missing vaccinated dogs and cats.
At the same time, working groups led by heads of people’s committees at all levels will be established to coordinate with veterinary and medical professional units to review, guide and promote the implementation of disease prevention and control measures at the facility. It also screens and penalizes dog and cat owners who violate rabies prevention and control regulations.
In particular, strengthening veterinary medicine at the community level and ensuring that each community has a veterinary staff or person in charge of animal husbandry to ensure on-site epidemic prevention and control.
To prevent rabies, specialized authorities try to vaccinate dogs and cats. Picture: KS.
Promotion of rabies vaccination
Mr Nguyen Van Lam, director of Phu Yen’s Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department, said there will be nearly 8,000 people bitten by dogs in the province in 2022, requiring preventative treatment. Year-to-date, nearly 3,900 people have been bitten by dogs and cats in the province, requiring preventative treatment.
There are many cases of rabid dog bites and suspected rabies in Tuy An, Tay Hoa and Tuy Hoa districts, particularly one death due to rabies in Phu My Village, Hoa Dong Township, Tay Hoa District.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Lam, according to the plan, there are currently about 30,000 dogs and cats in the province being raised by people for the purpose of keeping houses, pets, etc. Dogs and cats are mostly left free in gardens and homes.
In the coming period, the number of dogs and cats in the region will not change significantly, but will tend to increase for pets and pets in the plains and for household keeping in mountainous areas. .
In order to effectively implement rabies prevention and control, the subdivision will allocate sufficient resources to effectively implement the region’s rabies prevention and control plan for 2022-2030, and will prioritize the purchase of vaccines. , organized rabies simultaneous vaccination for dogs and cats.
In addition, the sub-department has instructed the animal husbandry and veterinary stations to actively coordinate with the township, county and township people’s committees to organize rabies vaccination for dogs and cats. As of mid-May, the province has vaccinated over 14,000 animals, a rate of about 47%. Of these, more than 1,600 doses of rabies vaccine will be government-sponsored for ethnic minorities and areas facing special difficulties.
“Currently, the subdivision continues to actively direct animal husbandry and veterinary stations to continue promoting the vaccination of dogs and cats with rabies vaccines to improve vaccination rates. However, in order for the vaccination rate to achieve high results, in addition to the efforts of functional areas, it is necessary to take the initiative of the people,” emphasized Mr. Nguyen Van Lam.
The director of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department of Phu Yen added that although the authorities and municipalities have made great efforts to prevent and control rabies in dogs and cats, the awareness of a large number of dog and cat owners has not been high. The situation of dogs and cats roaming freely on the streets and in crowded areas is still widespread.
According to statistics from specialized agencies, pet owners have not yet registered the keeping of dogs and cats with the People’s Committee at the municipal level. Most municipalities, districts and townships have not yet implemented the implementation of a dog management book in the region. Arrests of stray dogs in public places and administrative penalties for pet owners who violate rabies prevention and control regulations have not yielded the expected results.
Rabies is an acute infectious disease caused by the rabies virus and has an incubation period of 1 to 3 months or possibly longer. This disease is transmitted from animals to humans, mainly dogs and cats, through bites or licking, scratches, damaged skin, mucous membranes and open wounds. There is currently no specific treatment for rabies, only prophylaxis with vaccines and serum immediately after exposure, depending on the extent of damage. Once rabies occurs, both humans and animals die 100%.