A total of eight cases of rabies were recorded in Ebonyi between January and September, the Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr Daniel Umezurike said on Wednesday.
Umezurike gave the figure during Ebonyi Dog-Mediated Human Rabies Control Programme, an event to mark this year’s World Rabies Day.
The 2022 edition of the event, has the theme “Rabies: One Health, Zero Deaths.”
It was organised by the state Ministry of Agricultural and Natural Resources in collaboration with the Ministries of Health and Environment as well as Grant and Donor Agencies.
Umezurike stated that five human contacts were line listed, vaccinated and currently under surveillance.
The commissioner described rabies as a viral infection spread via saliva, through bite of a rabies-infested animal in direct contact with human fresh skin wounds.
He explained that a furious rabies case would be hyperactive and might display erractic behaviour with symptoms of insomnia, excess salivation problem in swallowing as well as other symptoms which took long to set in.
He added that collaboration was a key strategy for prevention, as dog as well as human prevention vaccine and public awareness, would prevent the disease.
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“Prevention of rabies can be done by eliminating rabies in dogs through vaccination which is the most-cost effective strategy for prevention in people.
“Dog vaccination reduces deaths attributed to dog-mediated rabies,” Umezurike said.
He urged residents in the state to remain calm, go about their businesses, avoid self medication and report suspected cases to health authorities.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Prof. Humphery Nwobashi, corroborated the figure given by his health counterpart and said that all the cases had both human and animal contacts.
Nwobashi stressed the need for concered authorities to come together under “one-health” to mitigate the risk of rabies in both humans and animals.
According to him, practices such as mass animal vaccination, vaccination of people who have contact with rabid animals and control of stray dogs would mitigate the risk.
He said that the ministry was prepared to collaborate with the mission of “one-health, zero-deaths” by eliminating dog-medicated rabies.
“This year’s edition is a history making event where ‘one medicine is demonstrated’ by authorities and professionals from these ministries.
“We can record achievement only when we collaborate as a team to fight deadly enemy. Though rabies is not treatable, it is vaccine preventable,” Nwobashi said.
