Abuja – Dr Simon Enem, a Veterinary Doctor, on Wednesday in Abuja quoted the World Health Organisation (WHO)  as saying that no fewer than 10,000 Nigerians were exposed to rabies annually.

Enem, who is the Chairman of the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), Abuja Chapter, quoted WHO as saying this while speaking at a forum with the theme: ‘Rabies’,  to mark the 2011 World Veterinary Day (WVD) and World Rabies Day (WRD).

He said the information on rabies in Nigeria and Africa was sparse due to misdiagnoses and underreporting, adding that human rabies was first reported in Nigeria in 1912.

The doctor also quoted WHO as saying: “Despite rabies being preventable, one person dies every 10 minutes, which indicated that there are about 52, 000 to 60,000 human deaths and 10 million post-exposure treatments annually’’.

He said that in 2010, NVMA conducted a community approach to rabies prevention in six area councils where free vaccination clinics were held.

“We involved the six area councils and we carried out free vaccination campaign in the six area councils, vaccinating each household and we designated special clinics where people should bring out their dogs for vaccination.

“But the problem remains that people showed nonchalant attitude towards this important disease – rabies. People don’t vaccinate their dogs; you see dogs roaming up and down; the government are not interested.

” Even if you want to advise the private vets, your advice will not go anywhere because there is no enforcement towards the law.’’

According to him, rabies is the oldest known and most feared zoonotic disease in the world.

He stated that it is traditionally associated with dogs more than any other animal species in any part of the world.

Enem said that rabies had an acute viral encephalomyelitis that infected mammals.

He, however, said that dogs remained the likeliest carrier of the disease due to limited control measures and vaccines.

Also speaking at the occasion, Dr. Olaniran Alabi of the Epidemiology Unit in the Federal Department of Livestock, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, said the rabies virus was found in the saliva of rabid animals.

Alabi explained that the disease was spread through the animal’s saliva and that its symptoms varied from one type of animal to the other.

He said only a proportion of infected animals showed all the classical signs and symptoms of the disease.

He, however, said that rabies could be prevented through immunisation.

The veterinary doctor expressed concern that Nigeria had been unable to control the disease.

He blamed the spread of the disease in most African countries on poor reporting, negligence and lack of public awareness.

Alabi identified stray dogs, absence of multidisciplinary approach to rabies control and lack of surveillance and enforcement of movement control as factors that could promote the spread of the disease. (NAN)