Govt to vaccinate stray dogs in 12 districts

KATHMANDU, June 8: The Department of Health Services (DHS) has started to vaccinate community dogs in 12 districts in its bid to immunize them against rabies virus. Dogs are supposed to be the reservoir of the rabies virus.



The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has allocated Rs 600,000 to the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) for the campaign. The EDCD said the first phase campaign will be completed in a month. [break]



According to the EDCD, the government spends Rs 2.5 million on an average per district for human rabies vaccine and the cost can be brought down significantly if dogs are immunized against rabies virus. The government distributes human rabies vaccine free of cost.



The EDCD said it would only cost around Rs 500, 000 to all dogs in a district. If the campaign shows positive results, the campaign would be extended to districts across the country. “If we can immunize all the dogs against the rabies virus, millions of rupees can be saved,” Zoonotic Control officer of EDCD Lat Narayan Shah said. He said 400 dogs in each district will immunized under the campaign.



The EDCD has selected Jhapa, Saptari, Siraha, Rautahat, Chitwan, Rupandehi, Banke, Kailali, Kanchanpur, Dailekh, Kaski and Bhaktapur for the first phase of vaccination campaign.

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