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Courtesy of WSU rabies campaign (File photo) / For illustration purposes only
More than 300,000 dogs and cats will be vaccinated against rabies nationwide tomorrow as part of World Rabies Day celebrations.
Rabies is endemic in Mozambique, with an average of 50 cases reported every year. Nampula, Zambézia, Niassa, Inhambane and Maputo provinces have the most cases.
According to Ministry of Health records, 94 deaths were recorded country-wide in 2016, mainly as a result of dog bites. The National Veterinary Department mounts annual and free immunisation campaigns every year.
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On the recommendation of the Alliance for Rabies Control, an organisation established in 2006 and working in partnership with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 28th of September is celebrated as a moment of reflection in the fight against the disease.
The main ceremonies this year will take place in Moatize municipality, Tete province, with others in all provinces.
In Maputo, the OIE has financed the rehabilitation of kennels at the Eduardo Mondlane University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The handover will be attended by a representative of the organisation’s director-general from the organisation’s headquarters in France.
Private veterinary clinics and the Veterinary Hospital of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine will also be mobilised for free vaccinations during the week September 25 to 29.
According to a press release, the initiative aims to disseminating knowledge about measures to prevent and control animal rabies and vaccinate dogs and cats.
It also aims to raise awareness in municipal councils of the need to create and implement the regulations regarding the control of stray dogs in cities and their circulation on public highways.
The motto of the 11th anniversary celebrations for World Rabies Day is “Zero human rabies deaths by 2030”.
Authorities hope to improve community involvement in rabies prevention and control, increase vaccine coverage for dogs and cats, and prevent rabies deaths.
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