GenSan LGU intensifies anti-rabies vaccination after sheep tests positive

The local government of General Santos City has intensified its efforts to vaccinate animals against rabies after a sheep tested positive for the virus.

According to the report of GMA Regional TV’s Efren Mamac in “Saksi” on Thursday, a sheep was acting strange while being tied to a tree in Barangay Tambler. It died the following day.

The sheep could have been infected by another sheep that died earlier after testing positive for rabies last November.

“The RADDL (Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory 12) recorded a positive result for rabies on a sheep for the first time,” said Office of the City Veterinarian head Edward Alexander Leyson.

The city veterinarian said a stray dog with rabies could have possibly bitten the first sheep that tested positive for the virus.

“I suspect that there’s a stray dog, which the virus usually originates from. It could have bitten the sheep and after 14 days there are already signs as the incubation period takes that long,” said Leyson.

The city veterinary office took blood samples from over 30 sheep on a farm suspected of having rabies. They were eventually culled, the report said.

The city veterinary office tallied 25 cases of animal rabies in the city. Meanwhile, there are 260 rabies cases on humans nationwide from January 2025 to September 20, 2025, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

According to the DOH, the rabies virus can be carried by bats, wolves, cows, horses, goats, monkeys, and carabaos. — Vince Angelo Ferreras/BAP, GMA Integrated News