By Gabriel Olawale

In honour of Master James Musa and Miss Aishat Opakunle, two promising young Nigerians who recently lost their lives as a result of bites from a rabid dog, the Nigeria Veterinary Medical Association, NVMA, Lagos state chapter, recently commenced free vaccination of dogs and other household pets in Meiran area of the state under the Alimosho Local Government.

The activities aimed at consolidating global alliance for rabies control and observance of the 2014 World Rabies Day witnessed a huge turnout of the residents of Mologede Estate.

Speaking during the enlightenment exercise, Association Chairman, Dr Alao Mobolaji said it is important to get dogs vaccinated annually which keep them protected against rabies, but when a person becomes a victim of dog bite whether or not such dog has rabies or not the first thing to do is to wash the spot with soap and running water before present it for proper treatment.”

“In the course of treatment, the person will be subjected to post exposure management on days zero, three, seven, 14 and 30. If the dog does not die before day 14, the victim can skip days 14 and 30 and that means the dog does not have rabies so they can just treat it like a normal wound.”

Further, he explained that if the dog in question dies, the bitten person must take the full dose of the recommended drugs which give such person a very good chance of survival.

“But once the clinical signs of rabies start manifesting beginning with fever, there is no known cure that can prevent death,” he added.

Mobolaji however called on Government to consolidate review of existing dog laws in the state and introduction of leash laws to encourage responsible dog ownership.

“Proper equipping and mobilisation of the stray animal rescue unit of the state veterinary department to encourage the easy removal of all stray dogs from our environment is desired,” he noted.

A study to determine the prevalence of rabies antigen in brain of dogs slaughtered for consumption and those that died in veterinary clinics in the state, revealed that a total of 196 dog bites/suspected rabies cases were encountered between January 2006 and December, 2011 in veterinary clinics.

Majority (96.43 percent) of the offending dogs were not quarantined at the time of bite and only one out of the quarantined dogs died and was confirmed positive for rabies antigen.

The result of the study indicated that rabies antigen is present among dogs in Lagos State and may pose a threat to public health. Records showed that provocation was the major cause of dog bites and both children and adults fell victim of dog bites.