BALI MOVES FORWARD TO ACHIEVE RABIES-FREE TARGET by Fardah

  Jakarta, June 18, 2014 (Antara) -   Bali animal health office has vaccinated almost half of the island's dog population in the mass vaccination program against rabies this year, which is the fifth program being carried out on the island since 2010.

         The ongoing mass vaccination program in Bali has covered around 45 percent of the total dog population in the island so far. Till June 9, vaccination had been given to at least 160 thousand dogs of the total 350 thousand dogs to be targeted this year, Putu Sumantra, the head of the Balinese animal husbandry and animal health office, stated in Denpasar, Bali, recently.

         In Denpasar alone, the target of the program is 55 thousand dogs this year. Last year, 53 thousand dogs were vaccinated in the capital of Bali.

          "The program has been conducted in 1.6 thousand villages of the total three thousand villages throughout Bali," he said. Sumantra called for the cooperation of the public to make the program a success by taking their dogs for vaccination against rabies. He expressed optimism that the target can be achieved since the program, which was started on April 15, will be carried out until July 31, 2014.

          A total budget of Rp12 billion has been allocated for the fifth mass vaccination program against rabies, which is part of the government's effort to free Bali of rabies. Of the Rp12 billion, Rp5.6 billion is from Bali's budget and Rp6.4 billion is from the state budget.

        Bali has resolved to become rabies free by 2015 in order to maintain its reputation as the world's most famous resort island. Over the last few years, Bali authorities have routinely carried out mass vaccination programs against rabies, targeting stray and domestic dogs. Nationally, the central government has targeted the entire country to become rabies free by 2020.

        "The stray dog population increases by 2.5 million per year in Bali, and therefore, it should be controlled," Head of the Balinese Animal Health Office Vet. Nata Kesuma noted recently.

        The local authorities have outlined five strategies to eradicate rabies, notably the establishment of rural cadres, vaccination, euthanization, rabies-carrier supervision, and stray dog population control, Kesuma stated.

        The increasing number of stray dog population is a challenge to the mass vaccination program, Kesuma added.

         Around 90 staff members have been deployed for the implementation of the mass vaccination program. A total of 370 thousand doses of vaccines have been made available for distribution to nine districts in Bali.

        The system being applied during the vaccination campaign is different from the systems applied in previous campaigns. Now, officers have been targeting stray dogs wandering in hilly and mountainous areas, and puppies, which were not vaccinated earlier.

         Puppies as young as two weeks will be vaccinated to protect and strengthen their immunity.

         "Cats and monkeys that we encounter will also be vaccinated, but they are not our targets, because our main targets are dogs," he reiterated.

         The Bali provincial administration has set up at least 58 rabies prevention centers in several districts and cities to avoid the increase of rabies cases on the island.

        The 58 rabies centers included 14 located in Gianyar, 10 in Jembrana, seven in Badung, six Buleleng, six in Tabanan, four in Klungkung, four in Karangasem, three in Bangli, and another three in Denpasar.

         During January-May 2014, 36 dogs were identified to have been infected with rabies. Ten rabies-infected dogs were found in Jembrana, five in Gianyar, four in Klungkung, three in Tabanan, two in Karangasem, and one in Bangli. "No rabies-infected dogs were found in Denpasar or Badung," he said.

        The Balinese animal health office has intensified efforts to control the population of stray dogs on the tourist island, because the number of dog bite cases in Bali is still more than 100 per day.

         Around 18,507 dog bite cases were recorded during January-May 2014, a sharp decrease from 44,690 cases during the same period last year, Head of the Bali health office Dr Ketut Suarjaya said in Denpasar recently. One victim died due to dog bite in January 2014.

         "Around 82-94 percent of the victims have received vaccination," he said. The local health office has provided 160 thousand vials of anti-rabies vaccine (VAR) in 2014 to all state hospitals located on the island.

         Rabies is a zoonosis--a disease that is transmitted from animals to humans-- caused by a virus. The virus is known to be present in more than 150 countries and territories of all continents except Antarctica.

         According to the World Health Organization, despite the fact that rabies is a 100 percent preventable disease, around 60,000 people die annually. Children are the most effected by rabies, with four out of every ten deaths being a child under the age of 15.

        Furthermore, rabies is a wide-spread disease and potentially threatens over 3 billion people in Asia and Africa, where the people most at risk live in rural areas where human vaccines and immunoglobulin are not readily available or accessible. ***3***
(f001/INE)