Rabies kill 6 in Negros

THE Provincial Health Office (PHO) reported six Negrenses died of rabies in the first two months of 2019.

Rafael Marmolejo III, provincial rabies coordinator, said the data covers January 1 until March 5 of this year.

Marmolejo said they recorded three deaths caused by rabies infection in January and they are from Barangay Quintin Remo, Moises Padilla, Barangay Ilijan, Bago City and Barangay Batang, Himamaylan City.

For February, the fatalities came from Barangay Caradio-an, Himamaylan City, Barangay Bulata Cauayan and another from Sagay City.

The PHO has not yet recorded any rabies-caused deaths for March.

March is declared as Rabies Awareness Month.

The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) in Negros Occidental has stepped up its efforts to reduce, if not eliminate rabies, with the implementation of the Rabies Control Action Plan for 2019.

The PVO has also begun organizing dog owners to assist its initiatives to bring down rabies cases in the province.

Under the plan, PVO conducted an inventory of available canine rabies vaccine per local government unit. This will determine if they have allocated budget for vaccine procurement this year.

In 2018, canine rabies cases in Negros Occidental increased by 50 percent, totaling 33 from only 22 in 2017.

There were seven human deaths in the past year. (TDE)