Rabies is a disease caused by a virus which affects the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) both in animals and in humans. Animals infected with this virus can spread the disease through contact with saliva or brain tissue. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) Statistics 55,000 people die of rabies annually in the world. The majority of these deaths occur in developing countries. It is in this light that the 2011 for the fight against rabies was launched in Yaounde last September 26. The campaign was within the framework of activities to mark World Rabies Day 2011. Activities organised this year included sensitisation on the national radio, in schools, vaccination exercises and a two-day conference on rabies. Discussions focused on topics such as rabies in humans, rabies in animals, the experience of the Centre Regional Veterinary Clinic at Mvog-Betsi, the role of the council in the fight against rabies, rabies virus and other viruses in the same family among others.
After the conference, vaccination exercises continued in the different sub divisions. Dr. Laura Bessong, Chief of Service for Animal Health and Veterinary Public Health said the turnout for the vaccination campaign this year is timid as compared to the previous years. She said the low turnout was due to the fact that sensitisation there was not much sensitisation. Also, most people are still recovering from the back to school period. She explained that the timing for the campaign this year is not appropriate as it is usually done during holidays where children can take the animals for vaccination while their parents are at work.
Dr. Laura Bessong said the purpose of the vaccination campaign is to touch the underprivileged. The campaign is organised in partnership with some private veterinarians who proved the vaccines. The cost of vaccination is FCFA 2000. In 2009 over 3,500 dogs were vaccinated in the Centre Region. The figure does not include those that were vaccinated by private veterinarians. Dr. Laura Bessong said the presence of quacks on the field is a major challenge. “Despite efforts by the Ministry of Livestock Fisheries and Animal Industries is the fight against rabies, it is still difficult to evaluate our work because we do not have statistics on the pet population in our different localities,” she said. This, according to her, is because the World Health Organisation and the Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) recommend that at least 70 percent vaccination coverage for three successive years in a locality will lead to the eradication of rabies in the locality. Another major problem is that many people know about rabies superficially and do not know the danger on keeping an unvaccinated pet both to their families and entourage. “People should understand that rabies vaccination is annually. Rabies is of great public health importance but neglected,” she said.
