Lubao -- Some 100 dogs from different barangays of this town were administrated anti-rabies vaccine through the initiative of Board Member Edna David and Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda over the weekend.
Stressing the need for the community participation to run the campaign in a different gear, David, who also chairs the Provincial Board’s Committee on Health, hinted that the previous local rabies campaign years back lost its “bite and bark” because it lacked community participation.
David said the government miserably failed because it was purely government effort that tried to wrestle rabies out of the animals in the communities. Tagging regulations and responsible pet ownership this time, David believes government funds could be supplemented.
“The program aims to promote responsible pet ownership. There are many programs on anti-rabies but few campaigns actually tapped on community awareness and participation,” David said.
David said that the program here was able to tap that participation of the people through the support of the local government led by Mayor Pineda.
“Rabies is something that should be taken seriously because in our communities at least one dog is present at each household,” David said, stressing the dangers of rabies infection.
Rabies, a viral infection of animals can be transmitted to humans. It may be caused by a virus, which attacks the central nervous system. The virus is usually excreted in the saliva of an infected animal. But David said that rabies is not just transmitted through dog bites.
She said that the virus is usually transmitted through the saliva of infected animals, most often by a bite or scratch. It can also be sent through licks on broken skin or mucous membrane, such as the eyes, nose or mouth.
In very rare cases, person to person transmission has occurred when saliva droplets were dispersed in the air, David said.
She said that during the activity, pet owners were oriented on the rudiments of responsible pet ownership.