Rabies treatment is expensive, vaccinate your pets - Veterinary Officer to Ghanaians

Mr. Kwame Adubofuor, the Yilo Krobo Veterinary Officer, has advocated for the regular and timely vaccination of dogs, cats, and other animals that are prone to carrying rabies.

He made the call during the launch of a school gardening scheme in some selected schools by the Yilo Krobo Department of Agriculture in Somanya, Eastern Region.

According to him, rabies is completely preventable but extremely expensive to treat, so anyone living with animals that could potentially transmit rabies must vaccinate them and not allow them to loiter around.

“When a dog bites or scratches you, don’t hide; report it to your parent and [any] agricultural office so that officers will go and tame the dog to avoid biting another person,” he said.

Sra Presby, Somanya Methodist Primary and Junior High School, Somanya Presby, Somanya M/A, and others were some of the schools that participated in the gardening programme.

He noted that the human vaccine for rabies treatment costs over GHS 1000.00, which many people were unable to afford.

Most often, a rabid animal’s bite transmits the preventable viral disease rabies. The rabies virus infects mammals’ central nervous systems, ultimately causing brain disease and death.

The vast majority of rabies cases reported to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year occur in wild animals like bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes, although any mammal can get rabies.

Meanwhile, rabies is estimated to cause 59,000 human deaths annually in over 150 countries, with 95 per cent of cases occurring in Africa and Asia, but this number is likely a gross underestimate, according to experts.

Rural poor populations bear a disproportionate burden of disease, with children under 15 years old accounting for approximately half of the cases.

GNA