Rabies : Campaign To Vaccinate Pets Ongoing

Cameroon joined the international community on September 28, 2024 to mark the World Rabies Day on the theme: “Breaking Rabies Boundaries”.  While commemorating the 18th edition of the day, the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (MINEPIA), Dr Taiga, at the Yaounde VII Council premises, launched a free nationwide campaign against rabies for dogs, cats and primates. He underscored that the fight against rabies, turns around the vaccination of dogs and if 70 per cent of dogs are vaccinated, rabies can be eliminated in Cameroon. This year, there is hope to vaccinate some 250,000 pets. 
The esplanade of the Yaounde VII Council on Saturday September 28, 2024 was crowded with dogs of all breeds. The owners of these pets were responding to a call from the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries to have their pets vaccinated free of charge against rabies, not only to protect them against the disease, but also to protect public health.  During the event, Dr Taiga reiterated that rabies is an infectious viral disease that is fatal in almost 100 per cent of cases in humans and animals that are not treated in time. It has considerable socio-economic consequences in many countries, the Minister added. Transmitted by biting or by infected saliva penetrating an open lesion or wound, or a mucous membrane, the disease affects almost all warm-blooded species and causes death. Every year, it kills more than 60,000 people worldwide, particularly children. 99 per cent of human cases of rabies are of canine origin, and 95 per cent of victims live in Africa or Asia. 
In Cameroon, rabies is endemic throughout the country. According to the Permanent Secretary in the National Programme for the Prevent...