Nationwide rabies vaccination for pet animals was held today coinciding with the World Rabies Day. In Samtse District, over 700 pet dogs and cats were vaccinated and given deworming medicines to raise awareness about rabies disease.
The theme for this year’s World Rabies Day is ‘vaccinate to eliminate’.
People brought their pet dogs and cats to the 12-vaccination points setup across Samtse district for rabies vaccination. The gewog livestock extension officers carried out the vaccination programme.
“Rabies is a virus which is undetectable by the naked eye. It is an RNA virus under the LISA virus family. Most people may not know about it. Rabies can be contacted not just by dogs but even cats, cows and human too,” Karma Wangmo, the Sr Veterinary Officer, said.
Samtse, being a southern district with porous international border, is at a high risk of rabies outbreaks.
“Our biggest challenge is dog movement to and fro across the border. Even when we do a lot of vaccination programmes here in the country, dogs from across the border can bring in different diseases,” Karma Dorji, the District Livestock Officer, said.
The World Health Organization has a target to bring rabies-related human deaths to zero by 2030. Bhutan has not seen any rabies-related human death since 2016.
The national-level programme was held at Sherubtse College in Trashigang by creating awareness about rabies to the college and nearby school students, and gewog extension officers. The day commemoration and vaccinations were co-organised by the Department of Livestock and dzongkhag administrations.
Sherub Dorji
