Rabies is fatal but 100% preventable. The first laboratory-confirmed rabies case for 2020 was diagnosed in July.
The case involved a five-year-old boy who was bitten by a dog in May. “A person dying of rabies is an unnecessary death,” says Dr Nomsa Mnisi, vice-president of the South African Veterinary Council (SAVC).
“If a disease is preventable by purely vaccinating animals, we should not be seeing people, especially the most vulnerable like children, dying.”
Together with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development and as part of World Rabies Month, the SAVC urges pet and animal owners to vaccinate their animals against this deadly disease. Rabies is a zoonotic disease (a disease transmitted from animals to humans) that causes damage to the human brain and spinal cord, and is uniformly fatal.
The virus is transmitted through contact with the saliva (ie bites, licks or scratches) of an infected animal. According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), rabies is estimated to cause over 70,000 human deaths annually in over 150 countries, with 95% of cases occurring in Africa and Asia.
“We want to urge pet owners to vaccinate their animals, and to vaccinate rigorously,” says Dr Mpho Maja, director of Animal Health at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development.
“On average, animals should be vaccinated every three years, but in high risk areas, annual vaccination is recommended.”
Although most people associate rabies with dog bites, animals such as cats, mongooses, jackals and other wild animals can also infect people.
Animal owners will see a change in their pet’s behaviour if infected, as a rabid animal tends to behave strangely, often aggressively. They also experience muscle paralysis, produce lots of saliva and experience difficulty swallowing.
Dr Maja explains that wild animals may even lose fear of humans and become strangely tame. Cows and sheep with rabies may appear to have something stuck in their throat. “Vaccinating our animals is the only way to eradicate this disease,” says Dr Mnisi. Currently, there is no treatment available for human or animal rabies.
