Asutifi North District Director of Agriculture in the Ahafo Region, Paul Boakye, has said the directorate has begun putting measures in place to fight the spread of rabies from dogs to residents.
In his explanation, he indicated that veterinary officers have been assigned and positioned at vantage locations in the various communities in the district for two weeks, to embark on the dog vaccination exercises against rabies to help combat the spread of the deadly disease.
Speaking during the dog vaccination exercise at Kenyasi, Mr Boakye mentioned that an estimated number of 2,000 dogs are expected to be vaccinated against rabies in the district, an exercise he said is free of charge.
“If we can achieve the vaccination of the targeted number of dogs, then the number of human rabies in the district would go down”, he said.
He, therefore, appealed to the residents, especially owners of dogs, to come out in their numbers and ensure that their dogs are vaccinated against rabies.
The Asutifi North District Environmental Health Officer, James Oware, disclosed that immediately after the rabies vaccination exercise comes to an end, “any stray dog found roaming without a vaccination tag would be eliminated as the laws permit”.
He said this would ensure that such unvaccinated dogs do not bite, scratch, or lick residents, which could result in complications leading to death, hence, he urged the dog owners to take advantage of the exercise to vaccinate their dogs.
Some residents who have begun vaccinating their dogs said the dogs are their pets, which implies that they do many activities with them, including playing with adults and children, going to the farm with them, and protecting them in the house against intruders, among others.
They said the dogs could accidentally bite, scratch, or lick them, and because they want to avoid any complications that is why they are ensuring that their dogs are vaccinated against rabies and also avoid transmission of rabies to humans.
The first symptoms of human rabies may be similar to the flu, including weakness or discomfort, fever, or headache. There also may be discomfort, prickling, or an itching sensation at the site of the bite.
These symptoms, which may last for days, according to experts, may then progress to cerebral dysfunction, anxiety, confusion, and agitation.