By Victoria Ojeme, Abuja
The Federal Government has concluded plans to eradicate the incidence of rabies dog disease in Nigeria , with the transformation of the Technical Committee on Zoonoese into the National Advisory Committee on Zoonoses,

The Minister of Agriculture, Professor Shiekh Amhed Abdullah who made this known at the weekend said the Committee, with members also drawn from the Federal Ministry of Health,  will co_ordinate the control and prevent the spread of rabies, among other zoonoses diseases in Nigeria

The Minister, who spoke at the opening of the, “ Second National Workshop on Rabies” at the Institute of Development Research, Zaria disclosed that, government is set to commence vaccination of dogs in the Country.

According to him, “The Technical Committee on Zoonoses constituted by the two Ministries should be transformed to National Advisory Committee, part of whose function will be to plan and implement necessary programme that will result in the control and prevention of zoonotic diseases in Nigeria in line with government policy direction.

He lamented the rise in the reported cases of rabies, calling for concerted efforts of, “all stakeholders and international community to address the scourge of the diseases in developing countries and the need for designing a road map for its eradication.

Professoe Shiekh also made a case for the adoption of internationally acceptable  comprehensive guidelines in tackling the spread of rabies, including, mass dog vaccination and licensing, control of dog movement and quarantine, elimination of stray dogs, notification of suspected cases, regular surveillance of the disease in dogs, other domestic animals, widelife and mass public enlightenment.

In his remarks, the chairman of the Governing Board of the National Veterinary and Research Institute, Dr Isaac Egboja called for massive rabies vaccination campaigns with emphasises on the middle and lower class districts, oweing to the prevalence of free roaming dogs.He called further for the immunisation of persons with proven or probable exposure to the disease.