Rabies : Conduct Vaccination in High Risk Areas in Bali

Denpasar, Kompas – To break the chain of rabies transmission, the provincial government of Bali is strongly encouraged to conduct anti-rabies vaccination in all high risk areas. Currently, vaccination has only been conducted in infected or exposed areas, which are Badung district, particularly in the southern area, and Denpasar city. A small animal veterinarian, who is also a former investigator of the Animal Disease Investigation Center Region VI Depasar, Soeharsono, DVM, PhD, said that anti-rabies vaccination currently done does not guarantee that rabies would not spread further. Rabies has been found in dogs in Legian, Northern Kuta, and Denpasar. Vaccination will be done in Southern Kuta subdistrict – the place where rabies was found for the first time in Bali on September 2008.

“But there is a possibility that host animals, such as wild dogs would migrate or would be transported to other rabies-free areas. To prevent further spread of the disease, vaccination must also be conducted outside of the infected areas immediately,” he said.
Vaccination should be carried out until Gianyar, Tabanan, Bangli, Jembrana, Buleleng, Klungkung, and Karangasem. But this will require a great amount of funding. The estimated dog population in Bali is around 600,000 dogs.
Soeharsono recommends conducting vaccination along the coastlines of Gianyar because it is directly connected to Denpasar. He also recommends controlling the dog population by sterilizing male dogs. Separately, Head of the Livestock Service Office of Bali, Ida Bagus Alit, admits there is still no decision as to yet whether they will conduct vaccination for the whole of Bali. Currently vaccination is conducted in Badung district and Denpasar city and is estimated to finish by the end of January. They now have 20,000 doses of vaccine, and are requesting another 50,000 doses to the central government.
Besides vaccination, the government is also conducting elimination of wild dogs. Until last week, 655 wild dogs in the two districts had been eliminated. (BEN)
Source : Kompas