Vet is on a Mission to stamp out Rabies
Fiona is bitten by the bug to help out in Africa
It was a case of twice bitten not shy for Blantyre-based vet Fiona Thomson as she returned from her trip to Uganda as part of Mission Rabies recently.
Fiona joined vaccination teams journeying to remote villages in Nwoya district from Gulu, providing vital protection to dogs and their owners against rabies for the next year.
Her work saw her draw up vaccines, give out vaccination certificates for owners as proof of vaccination, mark dogs to show that they have been vaccinated and distribute educational material.
It was all in aid of UK charity Mission Rabies who work to eliminate rabies around the world, combining global outreach vaccination programmes with community education, thus improving human and animal health. Fiona, who works at Pets n’ Vets on Stonefield Road, Blantyre, explained: “Last year I travelled with Mission Rabies to Blantyre, Malawi, and was bitten by a dog on my first day.
“This year in Uganda I was again bitten by a dog on my first day, which again required an additional vaccination!”
But aside from being bitten, Fiona found the contrasts between Malawi and Uganda to be profound.
She continued: “In Malawi the people were very happy and joyful and wanted to speak to us whereas, in Uganda, it was evident that many of the people we met had been physically and mentally traumatised by war.
“In northern Uganda Mission Rabies work with Big Fix Uganda, which has its own charity called The Comfort Dog Project whereby people who have suffered physical and mental trauma are given dogs which have been donated to the charity and it was incredible to see how these dogs can help change people’s lives.
“I plan to travel with Mission Rabies every year of my life, and I’m already considering going to India next year – the biggest area in the world affected by rabies.”
Rabies is a preventable disease which kills an estimated 100 children every day across the world, yet is fully preventable through effective vaccination.
Scotland has led the way in showing that vaccination in the field can greatly improve the control of rabies within the wild and domestic dog population, thus meaningfully reducing the risk of human disease.
Mission Rabies is part of the worldwide veterinary service (WVS), founded by veterinarian Luke Gamble.
Its aim is to abolish rabies worldwide by 2030.