GMS-CDC

Next month, authorities will begin vaccinating dogs in a campaign to eliminate rabies in Bangkok in six years and Thailand in 10.

Deputy Bangkok Governor Malinee Sukavejworakit said yesterday that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and the Livestock Development Department would begin the two-week project of vaccinating dogs in the capital's 50 districts from March 2.

Six months later, a second dose of vaccine would be given to the dogs and Bangkok should be cleared of rabies in six years, she added. A memorandum of understanding will soon be signed authorising the BMA in rabies-prevention work.

Meanwhile, pet sellers in Chatuchak Market will be informed that a meeting setting standards for pet shops and issuing permits will be held on March 3. If they fail to present permits a week after the meeting, their shops will be shut down.

Chatuchak Market director Arun Sricharoon said a stall for permits would be set up at the market, and shop owners would be required to keep a record of all dogs sold. If they cannot present their permits and sales records later, their businesses will be shut down, he added.

Disease Control Department's deputy director-general MD Somsak Akksilp said the Public Health and Agriculture ministries would campaign for rabies vaccinations nationwide on March 2 and would formulate a plan to make Thailand free of rabies by 2020. Rabies claimed 24 lives last year, seven of them in Bangkok. 

Source: The Nation