The State government of Central Equatoria has launched the vaccination of dogs following several cases of rabies reported in many residential areas within Juba.
The state Ministry of Animals Resources, Fisheries and Tourism said the disease was also felt in other places like Lologo, Kator, Mauna, Rajaf, and Juba Nabari.
Speaking during the launch of the vaccination campaign on Tuesday, under the theme, “Rabies Kills, Vaccinate Your Dog”, state minister of animals resources, fisheries and tourism, Alex Latiyo Elia said the cases have been registered by the ministry of health.
“There is a widespread of the virus detected in Juba. The report from the Ministry of Health indicates that there are massive rabies cases in Juba,” Latiyo told City Review in an interview.
He said: “As the ministry in collaboration with partners we have come up with a vaccination campaign in Juba and later on [we] will move to other states. It aims to control the virus that can be shared from animals to human beings.”
According to a report from the state ministry of animal and fisheries, three people had been bitten by stray dogs and treated at Juba Teaching Hospital.
He said, “Vaccination is one of the measures put in place to curb the spread of the virus. We will continue to create awareness so that our citizens get informed about the virus.’’
In South Sudan, like in many other countries, the health condition of dogs is very paramount and dogs are the social and economic benefit to the human being in terms of domestic security.
Minister Latiyo warned the drivers to stop knocking dogs on the streets as it paints a bad picture of the city.
“Let us try to protect dog’s rights because in other developed nations dogs are treated like human beings,” he said.
More dogs
In his part, First Director-General in the Ministry of Animal Resource, Fisheries and Tourism, George Kamilo Ladu said that the vaccination came following the rising number of dogs in the streets of Juba.
“We are seeing many dogs in almost all the streets in Juba [and] that is why we want to start with Juba then we shall go to other places,” said Kamilo.
“There were three people who have been vaccinated at Juba Teaching Hospital because dogs have bitten them and those dogs die,” he added.
In 2017 South Sudan pledged to enhance vaccination and strengthen animal’s health regulation to curb the spread of rabies to humans through bites by stray dogs.
According to the state ministry of animals and fisheries massive displacement of people by war force many families to abandon their pets that resulted in a big rise in rabies cases.