DOH, DA committed to eliminating rabies by 2020

The Department of Health-National Rabies Prevention and Control Program (DOH-NRPCP) and Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI) aim to eliminate rabies in the country by 2020.

DOH, DA are committed to eliminating rabies from the country by 2020. pic.twitter.com/DEtZ5QQwki

— Rie Takumi (@rie_takumi) September 28, 2017

Dr. Mario Baquilod, DOH Disease Prevention & Control Bureau Director IV, said during the 2017 National Rabies Summit that agencies are alarmed by the continued deaths from a "100-percent preventable disease."

Government data shows that 209 Filipinos died due to human rabies in 2016 while 1,362,998 were bitten by animals in the same year.

Region III recorded the highest number of human rabies cases in 2015 with 30, followed by Pampanga with 18.

Better monitoring helped detect more rabies cases, while increased public knowledge of anti-rabies vaccines improved rates of case reporting.

Remote areas factors in rabies rates

The isolation of certain provinces and misconceptions about rabies remain factors in the persistence of rabies as a public health problem in the Philippines.

"Ang mga nagkakasakit ng rabies na tao ay mostly galing doon sa mga remote areas. In our experience, most of these remote areas have not been reached by the vaccinators," Dr. Simeon Amurao, DA-Bureau of Animal Industry Director III, explained.

"Usually kasi ang program, minsan may mga local government na pinadadala lahat sa barangay center yung aso. Yung nakatira sa malayong-malayo, hindi napupuntahan," said Amurao, adding that door-to-door vaccinations still don't reach some houses.

Provinces are building more Animal Bite Treatment Centers (ABTCs) under the guidelines of the NRPCP to address these problems.

Transmitted through saliva

Rabies is a zoonotic and human infection transferable when an infected animal's saliva enters a human's body. According to Baquilod, dogs are the offending animal 98 percent of the time.

Bites are the most common means of infection. Scratches are not infectious on their own and can only infect if the animal's saliva enters the body through them.

"Once bitten and then na-transmit ang virus to the victims, 'yun nag-start ng rabies. 'Yung kalmot lang, kailangan malawayan yung areas para ma-transmit ang virus. Kasi the virus is in the salivary gland of the animal," Baquilod said.

Infected dogs take about 10 days to die from rabies. It was once protocol to wait until offending dogs show signs of the disease, but Baquilod said patients are now encouraged to visit animal bite centers once bitten.

Amurao added that not all animals that bite are rabid or infected by rabies, as dogs and cats can bite humans if disturbed.

"Pagnakakagat, hindi naman ibig sabihin nun rabid 'yung aso," he said. "Pero dahil mabilis kumalat 'yung sakit, it's really safe for us to recommend na pabakunahan muna ng post-exposure treatment habang wala pang observation."

Dr. Emelinda Lopez, DA-Bureau of Animal Treatment, said rabies is not inherent to dogs, cats, or other animals.

"All dogs are naturally born healthy. Rabies is a sickness that they get. Similarly, when babies are born, they're very healthy, they need preventive vaccination. In dogs, it's very similar. They need rabies vaccination for prevention," Lopez said.

The experts urged the vaccination of pets, as it is completely free at local shelters and prevents the infection of both animals and persons.

Only 47.43 percent of the Philippines' estimated dog population of 9,015,364 were vaccinated last year due. Reasons for the vaccination gap include existing sociocultural beliefs, last year's elections, and isolation of certain areas.

Rabies-free areas

Several areas have already been declared rabies-free, including the municipalities of Monreal, San Fernando, and Batuan of Ticao Island, Masbate; Concepcion, Corcuera, and Banton of Romblon; and President Carlos P. Garcia in Bohol.

The NRPCC are implementing programs geared towards sociocultural change, technical organization, and political encouragement for rabies prevention and control.

Behavioral change, information, and integration of rabies awareness into the curriculum falls under the sociocultural component of the program and includes events such as World Rabies Day.

Technical organization involves the establishment of ABTCs while political encouragement involves recognizing the efforts of municipalities in their anti-rabies campaign.

Held in celebration of World Rabies Day on Thursday, the National Rabies Summit gathered LGUs and members of the National Rabies Prevention and Control Committee (NRPCC) to discuss the best strategies for eliminating rabies in the next three years. — BM, GMA News