KUCHING, May 2: Large-scale operations to vaccinate dogs and steps to gazette 62 rabies infected areas in 11 divisions (except Limbang) will continue.
Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development assistant minister Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn said the state government had adopted short and long term strategies to prevent deaths caused by rabies and to stop the disease from spreading in the state.
In replying to Datuk Amar Jamilah Anu (GPS-Tanjung Datu) during question-and-answer time today, Roland said the state government would continue vaccinating up to 70 per cent of the 220,000 dogs in Sarawak and keep to those numbers for the next three years.
“The control and eradication of rabies among dogs, the reduction of dog bite cases and integrated management of handling such bites as well as post-bite treatments can help stop the spread of the virus,” he said.
As for long term strategies to end rabies, he said the state government would come up with an application called ‘End Rabies Sarawak’.
“The app will be an integrated platform for the public, government departments, hospitals and veterinary clinic to use. Other strategies in mind includes licensing of pet dogs, including microchips implants; establishing dog pounds in Kuching, Sibu and Miri; establish an ‘immune belt’ along the Sarawak Kalimantan border; and possibly a public health laboratory with Biosecurity Level 3 classification and dog bite clinics in all districts,” Roland said, adding that the state government also aimed to declare Sarawak free from rabies by 2025. — DayakDaily
