Rabies — one of the world’s deadliest diseases. And now an outbreak has been declared in Nelson Mandela Bay.
One person, a young boy, Owam Bhuti, 9, has died during the outbreak.
In January, Nelson Mandela Bay municipal officials vaccinated about 200 dogs in the Bluewater Bay area after a resident was bitten and tested positive for rabies.
Three months later, a Wells Estate resident who was bitten by a stray dog also tested positive for the disease.
Then, in August, more cases were reported and an outbreak was declared.
There are now 74 confirmed cases and the disease has also spread to horses.
Vaccination stations have been opened in many areas, with the rural development and agrarian reform department and the municipality urging people to get their animals protected.
So far, more than 8,000 animals have been vaccinated.
But why should we be concerned? What makes rabies so deadly?
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), rabies has a nearly 100% fatality rate once clinical symptoms appear. Only a dozen or so people worldwide have recovered.
And based on the description of Owam’s final moments by his mother, Ntomboxolo Bhuti, dying from rabies is horrific.
The boy, his face so swollen he was barely recognisable, would aggressively throw himself against the hospital walls and windows while foaming at the mouth.
Such behavioural changes are also an indication of rabies in animals — most commonly dogs in SA, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) — which pass the disease on to people either through bites or scratches.
It is for this reason that provincial and municipal officials are on full alert, providing free vaccination against rabies for pets around the metro as the disease is 100% preventable with vaccination.
We urge every pet owner to take advantage of this service and also encourage residents to acquaint themselves with telltale signs of rabies in animals so they can avoid those animals and report them to the relevant authorities to curb the spread of rabies.
And, most important when one suspects exposure, do not delay treatment, the NICD advises, as rabies can be controlled through the early use of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis in exposed human cases.
HeraldLIVE