Online Reporter
Judith Phiri [email protected]
THE Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development is set to launch an urgent nationwide dog vaccination programme as the country continues to face a significant surge in rabies.
Rabies, a preventable but deadly disease, primarily linked to domestic dogs and wild jackals, has claimed nearly 59 000 lives globally each year.
It remains a serious public health threat in Zimbabwe especially in rural areas where access to life-saving post-exposure treatment is limited.
In a recent interview, Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Permanent Secretary, Professor Obert Jiri confirmed that 650 000 doses of vaccine have been secured from Botswana, exceeding the usual annual requirement to tackle the escalating threat.
“We are tracking livestock diseases across the country and one of them is rabies. We have seen an increase in rabies cases across the country. They generally come from our dogs and we also get it from jackals as the breeding season increases.
“So, really we have seen a prevalence and an increase in rabies cases across the country. We are going to be doing a robust vaccination programme. As it is, we are receiving 650 000 doses into the country from Botswana to attack the rabies situation in our country,” he said.
“Ordinarily we require 500 000 doses per year, but this year because of the escalation, we have now more than what we need. So, in the next few weeks, a rabies vaccination programme will be rolled out across the country.”
He said they will target the main provinces and the main hotspots as well as along the borders of the national parks where jackals come from.
Prof Jiri said these include Hwange National Park, Gonarezhou National Park and Savé Valley Conservancy among other parks and conservancies across the country where jackals breed and the hotspots.
“We have also seen an increase of rabies cases even in towns. It’s very important that whenever someone is bitten by a dog, they get immediate attention because once rabies set in, particularly into human beings they will not survive,” he added.
“So, vaccination becomes our line of defense and as we roll out this vaccination programme for rabies, we really appeal to everyone to have their dogs vaccinated. This will ensure that we do not have these fatalities brought about by rabies infections.”
