Stray Dog Bites decreases – Vet Officer
Veterinary Clinic of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has disclosed that there has been a decrease in stray dog bite cases from January to August this year as compared to the same period last year.
Dr Kwesi Darkwa, President of the Ghana Veterinary Medical Association who made this known said that his outfit recorded 428 stray dog bites between January and August this year as compared to last year’s 673 bites.
He disclosed that out of the 428 cases, 16 bites were positive for rabies while 24 out of 673 bites late last year were positive for rabies.
| Dr. Darkwa made this known at the launch of this year’s World Rabies Day in Accra, stressing that “these statistics indicate that stray dogs pose serious public health hazard for rabies control.
The World Rabies Day, which comes with the theme, “Rabies – “A Neglected Public Health Menace”, will be held on Monday, September 28, to draw the attention of the world to the rabies disease and its public health implications, and with the emphasis that there is a vaccine to prevent its occurrence. The doctor suggested that free national anti-rabies vaccination which was stopped in 1994 was the best way to control the disease and to destroy stray dogs found on the streets. He called on stakeholders to get involved in ensuring that preventive and control measures are put in by the Veterinary Services Department of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The doctor added that rabies is an acute fatal disease caused by a virus transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. It affects not only dogs and cats but all mammals including human beings. “Despite being 100 percent vaccine preventable, one person dies from this every 10 minutes worldwide,” Dr. Darkwa stressed. The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Livestock, Dr Alfred Tia, who was also at the launch, called on stakeholders to go the extra mile in their efforts to control the rabies menace. |
He also advised everyone to take part in the programme to learn more about the disease which can kill within few minutes and also learn about how to prevent and treat this harmful disease caused by dogs.
BY LINDA BEBIYE
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