Maximum focus to put rabies outbreaks under control

Information from Quang Ninh Sub-department of Animal Health shows that in the first 9 months of 2023, there were 7 outbreaks recorded, including 1 from Ha Long city, 2 from Binh Lieu district, 1 from Dam Ha district, 1 from Hai Ha district, 1 from Ba Che district, and 1 from Uong Bi city.

The number of rabies outbreaks in dogs increased compared to the same period last year. The most serious outbreak was in Dien Cong area, Trung Vuong ward (Uong Bi city). A 7-year-old boy was bitten by a dog and lost his life after half a month.

Other outbreaks also posed quite a problem, such as the outbreak in Lang Moi village, Nam Son commune, Ba Che district, which occurred on June 2, 2023. At that time, a dog was spotted running loose and biting other dogs in Nam Son commune. By June 18, 2023, many dogs appeared in the village showing signs of rabies. After discovering the suspected sick dogs, people discarded them and took samples for testing, which the result showed positive for rabies virus later on June 26, 2023.

Through investigation, 61 people were exposed, and 7 of them had to inject vaccines and anti-rabies serum due to directly slaughtering rabid dogs without using protective equipment, 54 people were prescribed a full 5 injections of rabies vaccine due to contact with sick dogs, suspected rabid dogs, dead dogs with grade 2 injuries. As a result, 172/205 dogs were discarded while the remaining dogs were kept in captivity with a signed commitment from local households according to veterinary regulations.

Nguyen Thi Dung, Doctor Specialist II, Quang Ninh Provincial Center for Disease Control (CDC Quang Ninh), said, “Upon receiving reports of rabies epidemics from localities, CDC Quang Ninh has given directives and directly dealt with rabies outbreaks, examining people at risk, monitoring the vaccination process, providing guidance on handling corpses of discarded dogs, and strengthening communication work on rabies prevention”.

On the other hand, CDC Quang Ninh coordinated with district-level agricultural technical service centers to deploy rabies vaccination on dogs and worked with the provincial Sub-department of Livestock Production and Animal Health to direct investigations, monitor the rabies situation on dogs, and take measures to strengthen vaccination of dogs in districts.

Along with disease prevention and control activities, during April and May, Quang Ninh Provincial Center for Disease Control organized a provincial training course with 53 trainees and 25 training courses at district and commune level with 1068 trainees for district health workers, health stations, teachers and school health workers. Participants include district health officers, personnel of health stations, teachers and school health staff.

The key contents conveyed in the training course include: Update on the rabies situation in Vietnam and particularly Quang Ninh; introducing the national program to control and eliminate rabies in Quang Ninh province in the period 2022 - 2030; characteristics and symptoms of rabies in humans and animals, and signs from event-based surveillance (EBS) that need to be reported; methods to prevent rabies in humans, wound treatment, vaccination and anti-rabies serum; communication about rabies prevention in schools.

"We will continue to coordinate closely with the animal health sector in terms of investigation, surveillance, outbreak handling, and information exchange to control diseases transmitted from animals to humans. At the same time, we will strengthen communication work about rabies to people on loudspeakers of communes and wards, sharing information on rabies prevention combined with providing consultation at vaccination sites,” said Nguyen Thi Dung, Doctor Specialist II and Deputy Director of CDC Quang Ninh.

Experts at CDC Quang Ninh believes that the last months of 2023 may come with more records of human rabies cases, mainly in mountainous areas. CDC Quang Ninh has asked localities to lay out instructions and strengthen communication on rabies prevention, ensuring that over 90% of people exposed to animal bites have access to consultation on disease prevention.