Vet office warns of surge in rabies incidence this summer

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The Iloilo Provincial Veterinarian Office (PVO) has cautioned the public on the heightened risk of rabies during the dry season.

“If we look into our data on rabies cases, throughout the year we have cases, but dog bite incidents increase during summer because dogs during the dry season are free-roaming,” PVO chief Darel Tabuada said in an interview.

Tabuada added that the extreme weather conditions increase outdoor activities, hence increasing the chance of encounters, especially children, with rabid dogs.

He, however, noted that while the incidence of rabies will be affected by the extreme heat, the percentage is not significantly relevant.

As of the end of March, the province recorded 16 rabies canine or animal rabies cases from the 13 towns, with one fatality reported in Pototan earlier in the year.

The PVO chief said the cases this year are much lower compared to the same period last year.

The provincial government has intensified its efforts in inoculating dogs with the anti-rabies vaccine, with a 47.90 percent vaccination coverage as of March.

“We are now in the second month of our mass dog vaccination. We started in February and we will end this April,” Tabuada said.

Tabuada expressed confidence in reaching 70 percent coverage by the end of April, attributing to the rapid pace of vaccination efforts.

“We have one month to reach that, and we are positive that we can already achieve such a percentage. Some towns have just started their campaign,” he said.

“There are some towns that have low performance, and we encourage our local government units to intensify the campaign on the vaccination against the rabies virus among our dogs to ensure that we can achieve the protection of our herd,” he added.

Tabuada emphasized that rabies vaccines are already available in the animal bite centers of each town.

In November 2023, the provincial government announced its aim to declare all 42 towns and one component city of the province rabies-free by 2026, which is a leap to the initial goal set for 2030.