The vaccination campaign for dogs and cats is scheduled for September. Photo: RRSS.
La Paz, July 22, 2023 (ABI). – So far this year, 92 cases of canine rabies have been reported in the national territory, four times more than in 2022, for which reason a vaccination campaign is being prepared for September in order to reach more than 3 million pets, reported the head of Zoonotic Diseases of the Ministry of Health, Grover Paredes.
“This year, we are with 92 cases of rabies notified nationwide and we can say that it has quadrupled compared to last year of 2022, when around 22 cases were registered,” said Paredes.
The most affected departments are Cochabamba, which reported 35 cases, Potosí 10, La Paz 8, Chuquisaca 28, Tarija 9 and Santa Cruz 2.
He pointed out that Potosí is on health alert and epidemiological surveillance actions and recruitment of people with attacks by their own dogs and others are being strengthened.
In Sucre, Chuquisaca, a vaccination campaign was carried out on June 11.
Meanwhile, in Viacha, La Paz, a vaccination campaign was carried out last week and operations to search for suspected cases of rabies, after learning of the attack of a puppy infected with the virus on a 2-year-old girl.
The program plans a massive outreach campaign and plans to work with the health centers in each neighborhood and make a more equitable distribution of brigades.
“So we are aiming, at least, to vaccinate more than 3 million pets, between dogs and cats, in this vaccination campaign that has to be very strict in order to close the circulation of rabies,” said the person in charge of Zoonotic Diseases.
The objective – he pointed out – is to reach with the vaccine particularly the dogs of the villas and peri-urban areas.
The Ministry of Health guarantees 100% of biologicals on a national scale for the mass vaccination campaign, which is mandatory from the first month of the pet’s life.
responsible ownership
According to Paredes, almost 80% of the dogs that are on the streets are semi-domiciled dogs; that is to say, they have an owner and this unfortunately generates accidents on public roads.
He stressed that it is essential to sensitize the population with the responsible ownership of pets and that they not leave them on the street with the risks that it implies for the health of the animal, the family and other people.
Paredes suggested that the municipalities have a municipal law and its regulations to strengthen the responsible ownership of pets so that the owners assume their responsibility with the animal and society.
“(What is recommended is) to prevent dogs from being on the street, and rather, to be indoors, have their animal health vaccinations and that their owners take care of the well-being of their pets,” he urged.
He stressed that the program will work on actions to raise awareness of responsible pet ownership.
For this purpose, the bet is to work with the students of the schools to promote the vaccination of the pets and the responsibility of the care and protection of the same on the part of the owners.
He pointed out that according to an international standard for every 4 people there must be a pet; however, in Bolivia the ratio is “3 people for 1 dog and even 2 people for 1 dog”.
That is why it is important to work on municipal policies for mass sterilization and control of the illicit pet market, he stressed.
He denounced that there are people who leave their dogs in the streets, in the vicinity of schools and in the markets and assured that in most of the dogs they no longer return home, they become vagabonds in peri-urban places and usually form packs that attack sheep, poultry and other animals.
Likewise, it asked the owners of dangerous breed dogs to comply with Law 553 of “regulation of the possession of dangerous dogs for public safety”, to take them out into the street with the muzzle and the collar attached to a leash to avoid accidents with other animals and people.
NJ/MC
2023-07-22 14:30:05
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