30, 000 dogs vaccinated against rabies in Machakos

More than 30, 000 dogs have been vaccinated against rabies in Machakos County.

200 dogs were vaccinated during a mass vaccination exercise to mark the World Rabies Day at Vota Market in Machakos Town subcounty on Thursday.

The campaign was conducted by the International Research Institute (ILRI) led One Health Centre in Africa (OHRECA) in partnership with the County Government of Machakos, the Zoonotic Disease Unit (ZDU) and Ve'te'rinaires Sans Frontie'res- Ger(VSF-G).

The theme for this year's World Rabies Day was 'Rabies: One Health, Zero deaths,".

ILRI director general Jimmy Smith said they had vaccinated more than 30,000 dogs in the county so far.

"We are pleased to work with the County Government of Machakos and local authority in attempt to eliminate rabies. So far, over 30, 000 dogs have been vaccinated and we estimated that we need to vaccinate 70 per cent of the dogs in Machakos County, " Smith said.

"We are working continuously with our partners in the county and urge more partners to join hands in the fight against rabies," Smith said.

He addressed reporters at the sidelines of the mass dogs vaccination exercise.

Smith said the county had been identified as having unacceptable burden of rabies.

"We aim to vaccinate 70 per cent of the dog population annually to break the transmission cycle of this deadly disease," Smith said.

A woman said her husband died of rabies after domesticating a dog he had found on the road.

"My husband found a puppy by the road side and took it home. The dog bit his hand. After three months, he started having severe headache," She said.

"I took him to hospital. He was diagnosed with rabies. The doctor told us that once symptoms appear, there is no treatment, in the evening, he had died.