PUTTING local residents’ safety on top of his priorities, Mayor Joseph E. Estrada has issued a tall order that all dogs and cats in Manila should be vaccinated with anti-rabies.
“Prevention is better than cure,” he said of his directive in time for the summer break wherein most of the people take a hiatus, especially students who are in great risks of being bitten by these stray animals as they usually play on the streets and public places.
Based on data from the Department of Health (DOH), animal bites result to between 200 and 300 deaths yearly due to rabies infection.
Because of this alarming news, the local chief executive commanded the Manila Health Department (MHD) to gather all homeless canines and felines and bring them to the city impounding area.
On the other hand, he urged the households to have their pets vaccinated to protect them from getting infected by the disease.
Latest DOH figures reveal that a total of 1,500 dogs and cats had been vaccinated in 2016 and 2017. There has been a standing order from the city hall to make available free anti-rabies shots in various barangay levels that get assistance from Veterinary Inspection Board (VIB) for the vaccines.
Meanwhile, Estrada instructed MHD Chief Dr. Benjamin Yson and the VIB to conduct vaccination, deworming and spaying pro bono, as well as other activities in communities as part of the campaign to quell rabies.
He also tasked the city health officers and VIB personnel to hold a public awareness initiative through information and education on the dangers of animal bites and rabies infection across all public elementary and secondary schools within the locality.
“Dogs’ and cats’ bite is nonfatal. But once you are bitten, as a precaution, you should have it checked by a doctor and get anti-rabies vaccines,” the mayor said.
According to Yson, rabies can be transmitted when infectious material—usually saliva—comes into direct contact with a victim’s fresh skin lesions.
If bitten, he advised the owners to isolate their pets and observe them for at least 15 days to look for symptoms of rabies infection.
The MHD chief cited that signs would include, paralysis of the throat and jaw muscles, foaming of the mouth, loss of appetite seizures and sudden death.
March is observed as the National Rabies Prevention Month in the Philippines. Estrada signed its declaration through Executive Order No. 84 during his incumbency as president in 1999.
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