ILOILO – Local government units (LGUs) of the province’s 42 towns including one component city are urged to purchase their own anti-rabies shots so the rabies prevention and control program in the province could have a wider coverage.
Dr. Darel Tabuada of the Provincial Veterinary Office made this call, saying he is wary of a possible spike in the province’s rabies cases this year as the government may suffer from a shortage in animal and human rabies vaccines.
According to Tabuada, the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) in the province will no longer provide rabies vaccines this year due to lack of funds.
At present, the provincial government allocated around P1.5-million budget for rabies vaccination – sufficient to cover just 20,000 of the total estimated 258,000 dog population in the province, Tabuada explained.
Furthermore, the PVO official also noted that the Department of Health (DOH) is also experiencing lack of supply in terms of rabies vaccine for humans due to a global supply shortage.
“Ang mga banwa dapat nga mag-counterpart man sila kay indi man puede nga province lang tanan,” Tabuada sai, adding he will request a supplemental budget from Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. to augment the P1.5-million fund.
“We will proposed nga makapangayo kita sang supplemental budget maybe by March para madugangan ang vaccine,” he said.
This year, PVO is pushing to increase the vaccination coverage in the province. Last year, only 20 percent or 52,945 dogs have been vaccinated.
According to Tabuada, these figures are much lower compared to vaccination coverage in 2018 which reached 173,672 or 60 percent of the 252,976 total dog population.
Based on the initial report of PVO in 2019, the towns with low vaccination coverage are the following:
* Alimodian – one percent or 32 out of 5,181 dogs
* Pototan – one percent or 53 out of 10,154 dogs
* Passi City – one percent or 34 out of 12,538 dogs
* Lemery – one percent or five out of 4,765 dogs
* Carles – two percent or 123 out of 8,054 dogs
* Dueñas – four percent or 346 out of 8,609.
Tabuada said the number of vaccination coverage in the said towns could still increase as they have yet to submit their final report.
He noted the significant increase in the number of rabies bite cases in province with 68 last 2019.
“Kon basehan naton ang aton laboratory medyo mataas ang aton positive sa rabies so far sadtong 2019 may ara sang 68 positive sa rabies,” Tabuada explained.
Rabies primarily affects warm-blooded animals other than man, notably dogs, cats, rats, and bats, but which can be transmitted to humans by infected animals. The rabies virus, which is present in the saliva of an infected animal, is passed to a human through a bite, or rarely, when the animal’s saliva gets in contact with a scratch or fresh break in the skin.
Rabies, while fatal, is preventable with vaccination, stressed Tabuad.
He emphasized the pressing need to bring awareness on the importance of responsible pet ownership in the province.
“Kon responsible lang tani ang dog owner, ginahigot kag ginapa-bakunahan ma-limit tani naton ang rabies,” Tabuada said./PN
