AMID the continued rise in the number of people infected with the A(H1N1) flu virus and dengue, a National Scientist called the government and the people’s attention to the need to eradicate another illness—rabies infection.

National Scientist Dr. Teodulo Topacio Jr., a veterinarian, is leading a campaign to eradicate rabies incidence in the country before 2020. He said the infection kills 300 to 350 people in the Philippines every year. People are infected if bitten by rabid dogs or cats.

Topacio lamented the antirabies campaign remains “not a priority” in the government despite President Arroyo’s signing the Antirabies Act in 2007 to prevent, control and eradicate rabies in the country. Topacio led in drafting the bill that became a law.

Valenzuela City and Quezon City have the highest incidence of rabies in the country, Topacio told a recent press briefing. He did not say the number of cases, and the other areas which have high rabies incidence.

To bring down the number of rabies in Quezon City, he said a campaign is being pilot-tested in  District Three—which has the highest incidence in the city—in coordination with the district’s Rep. Matias Defensor.

The campaign, which starts this July, include the construction of a pound and the vaccination of dogs. If successful, the three other districts in the city will follow suit.

Manila, Topacio said, currently has no incidence of rabies infection owing to the effective antirabies campaign initiated by former mayor Lito Atienza. Dogs in the capital city receive antirabies vaccination, and around 100 stray dogs are taken by the city pound a day which are later put for adoption.

The national antirabies campaign is led by the Department of Agriculture (DA) as the main agency, together with the Departments of Health, Education, and Interior and Local Government. The four agencies signed a memorandum of agreement for the purpose. The DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry is in charge of the national campaign but “lacks funds” to fully implement it.

He stressed that rabies infection could only be prevented by vaccinating dogs—and even stray cats—which he intends to achieve by 2020. The campaign requires a large-scale vaccination of at least 80 percent of dogs.

He said one in every 10 families in the country have a dog, most of which he labeled as aspin, short for asong Pinoy, from the earlier derogatory askal or asong kalye. He said Quezon City which has around a 2-million population has 200,000 dogs.

“We are fond of puppies. But when they grow up, the dogs become self- supporting and roam the streets,” he said. He added: “[If there are] no stray dogs, [there are] no rabies [infection among people.”

He said it is “a nightmare” to see people who suffer from rabies infection. Because it affects the person’s brain, those infected suffer from convulsions. And getting infected is irreversible because it has “no known recovery,” Topacio said.

Leptospirosis not a problem in animals in RP

Topacio said leptospiroris, or infection caused by bacteria from Leptospira that occurs in rodents, dogs and other mammals, is “no longer a problem” among animals in the Philippines now due to vaccination.

Animals usually affected by leptospirosis are pigs, cattle and carabaos, and dogs.

He said it is important for hog and cattle raisers to have their animals free from the infection because if they contract leptospiroris, they suffer abortion, infertility, sterility and weak births.

Topacio said people’s soft skin—or those which have prolonged stay in water, such as rice farmers and abattoir workers—easily get infected with leptospirosis.

 People with leptospirosis show flu-like symptoms and conjunctivities, he said. But unlike rabies, humans infected with leptospirosis can be cured with antibiotics.

Ebola Reston in Bulacan still being studied

Topacio said the source of the recent Ebola Reston virus infection in Bulacan is still being studied by the country’s veterinary experts.

He said experts are saying the virus might have come from bats, whose droppings might have been ingested by pigs.

The Ebola Reston visus infection in a hog farm in Bulacan caused the culling of 6,000 pigs in the province. Topacio said the DA veterinarians did not recommend the killing of the pigs, but local veterinarians recommended it to prevent further infection of hogs and, possibly, humans.

“It is better to err on the side of caution,” he said.

However, the Ebola Reston virus that hit the country was of a mild strain and did not infect humans.