By PNA
ILOILO CITY — Majority of dogs that have not been vaccinated against rabies in Iloilo province are stray, making them a “virus reservoir”, the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) warned on Friday.
Last year, the province, including municipalities and barangays, targeted to vaccinate 70 percent of its dog population.
Given that this goal has been reached, the remaining 30 percent continues to pose a challenge, PVO Veterinarian, Dr. Darel Tabuada, said in an interview.
“The 30 percent unvaccinated dogs are most likely be made up of stray dogs,” Tabuada said, adding that they continue their campaign to local government units to widen their dog vaccination coverage to prevent the rabies virus from spreading.
He called the unvaccinated strays “virus reservoir” that can transmit the virus to other dogs through biting.
Unvaccinated dogs will most likely be infected while vaccinated dogs will be given booster shots to protect them from the virus.
“We try our best to get the stray dogs vaccinated. By then, we can completely get rid of rabid dogs in our province,” Tabuada said, assuring that barangay rabies committees responsible for submitting dog heads to the Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RADDL), have proper knowledge on how to handlle bite cases that involve rabid dogs.
The province recorded a total of 77 rabid dogs in 2018, 37 cases higher than in 2017.
“The increased cases reflect that the public are now prompt in submitting dog heads to our regional laboratory,” Tabuada said.
A dog that has bitten a person undergoes a 14-day observation. When the dog dies within the period, its head will be cut off and will be submitted to the RADDL for confirmation.
Animal bite centers have also become stricter in handling dog bite cases. The doctors’ treatment approach will depend on the laboratory result of the dog.
Tabuada cited some municipalities that recorded most of the rabid dogs in the province. The municipality of Santa Barabara topped the list with 11 rabid dogs. The town had vaccinated 5,672 dogs out of the 9, 115 total dog population.
San Miguel town, followed with eight rabid dogs, and vaccinated 2,091 dogs out of its 4,357 dog population. Cabatuan and Alimodian had recorded four rabid dogs each.
