Over 60 village chiefs attend talk on rabies scare

KUCHING: More than 60 community leaders and village chiefs attended a talk on the rabies scare at the Padawan sub-district office near here on Thursday

The meeting, chaired by deputy Resident Tuah Suni, was jointly organised by Health Department, State Veterinary Services Department, Padawan Police, and Civil Defence Department.

Health Department was represented by Dr Jeffery Stephen, Veterinary Services Dept by Dr Nicholas Jenek and Padawan Police by its head of Management Unit ASP Gunong Bilan. SAO Rangen Jamang was also present. Tuah said the meeting was necessary to explain the rabies scare in the state.

“We must not take the situation (rabies) lightly. All must take it seriously and prevent it from happening in our area. I would like to urge the people, especially owners of pet dogs to be very responsible. Take good care of them.”

Tuah also urged the village chiefs to communicate with Padawan Municipal Council for any activities related to eradicating rabies, and the culling of dogs in their respective areas.

“We are serious in our effort to tackle the rabies problem because we do not want more deaths,” he pointed out.

Dr Jeffery, meanwhile, said 95 to 99 per cent of human rabies are caused a dog bites. There is 99 per cent possibility of death for those affected. He, therefore, advised those who have been bitten by dogs to clean the wound at least 15 minutes under running water, and after that to seek medical help at the nearest clinics or hospitals. There are four dogs bite clinics in Sarawak – Sarawak General Hospital, Serian Hospital, Kota Sentosa Clinic, and Sri Aman Hospital.

In the period from April 1 last year to Jan 13 this year, Kuching recorded 2,578 dog bite cases, Serian (2,291), Samarahan (422), Sri Aman (539), Betong (4) and Sarikei (7).

The number of deaths due to rabies still stands at five while one is still in critical situation. Dr Nicholas, meanwhile, advised the dog owners to confine their animal 28 days after being vaccinated with anti-rabies. ASP Gunong also spoke at the function.