The OKU Animal Husbandry Service In South Sumatra Injects 500 Stray Dogs And Pets To Prevent Rabies

SUMATERA - The Department of Fisheries and Livestock of Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU) Regency, South Sumatra (Sumsel) administered anti-rabies vaccine injections to hundreds of stray dogs and pets belonging to the community to prevent them from contracting mad dog disease.

"There are around 500 dogs that we injected with vaccines", said Head of the Fisheries and Livestock Service (Diskannak) Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU), Tri Aprianingsih accompanied by the Head of Livestock and Animal Health, Sugiarto in Baturaja as reported by Antara, Tuesday, June 22.

She explained that currently, her party is preparing as many as 500 doses of anti-rabies vaccine to be injected into hundreds of stray dogs or those kept by the community. There are 2 priority villages, namely Tanjung Baru Village and Kemilau Baru Village, East Baturaja District.

"These two villages are the priority in vaccinations because there have been cases of people being bitten by rabid dogs", she said.

Anti-rabies vaccine injections need to be done to provide immunity to animals from the spread of mad dog disease.

"In this vaccination, there are no obstacles in the field. However, we lack vaccine doses to meet the need for an anti-rabies vaccine for all dogs in OKU Regency", she said.

The total dog population in the OKU area currently reaches 2 thousand heads. Meanwhile, based on data from the OKU District Health Office this year, there were 20 cases of people in the local area infected with rabies due to the bite of a rabid dog.

The Head of Disease Prevention and Control at the OKU Health Office, Andi Prapto previously explained, the first treatment for a patient infected with rabies is cleaning the bite wound with running water and soap and then giving the VAR vaccine.

To treat patients who are bitten by rabid dogs, his office has operated the Rabies Center Health Center in three sub-districts including Tanjung Agung Health Center, Peninjauan, and Pengandonan Districts.

"This rabies center functions to control and treat patients who are bitten by rabid animals such as dogs and monkeys", she said.