Anti-rabies campaign on-going, Zero mortality in the city

The anti-rabies campaign of the city government is on-going despite the decrease in the number of rabies cases recorded here.

Mayor Jerry P. Treñas said the city is continuously implementing the said program that include walk-in anti-rabies vaccination, castration for male dogs and spaying for female ones and massive pet registration.

These efforts were first launched in 2004 to immediately address the whopping increase of rabies cases in 2003.

According to the Mayor, some 50 percent or 2,752 of the registered dogs in the city were already vaccinated while 186 dogs were impounded by the Office of the City Veterinarian.

As of press time, the number of rabies cases decreased compared to that of last year's. The City Health Office Animal Bite Clinic bared a total of 17 rabies victims from January to July or a little lower to last year's 29 with 2 fatalities, also covering the same period. It has zero mortality for this year 2005.

Rabies is a dangerous disease of animals transmissible to humans through bites of infected animals. It is caused by a virus of the rhadoviridae family, which attacks the central nervous system. The virus is usually excreted in the saliva of an infected animal.

Time and again, Treñas has called for the support of everybody. “ City residents should be more responsible for their pets,” he said.

When infected with the disease, early signs include fever, headache, sore throat, and feeling of tiredness. As the virus gets to the brain, the person may act nervous, confused, and upset. Other signs include pain at the site of the bite, hallucination, hydrophobia, paralysis and as the disease advances the person enters into a coma and may eventually die. (Adora Bandorio/PIO)