ILOILO City – Rabid dogs from adjacent towns must be prevented from entering this city, according to Mayor Jose Espinosa III.
The city managed to keep itself free from rabies cases these past four years but not this year, according to Dr. Tomas Forteza Jr., city veterinarian.
Halfway through 2018, the City Veterinary Office (CVO) already recorded eight cases of animal bites.
The most recent case involved a rabid dog from the adjacent town of Pavia, Iloilo. The victim manifested symptoms of rabies, according to Espinosa.
While the CVO had enough anti-rabies vaccines, the mayor said the higher goal was to keep Iloilo City rabies-free. Thus he found the entry of rabid dogs from adjacent towns to the city disturbing.
“Several dogs were recently apprehended and some were positive for rabies,” said Espinosa.
He would bring the concern to the Metro Iloilo Guimaras Economic Development Council composed of this city and the municipalities of Pavia, Leganes, Oton, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara in Iloilo province.
Forteza said there was a clustering of rabies cases in Barangay Balabag, Pavia last year.
From January to July this year, the eight cases of animal bites (seven dog bites and one cat bite) were recorded in the following: Lapuz district; barangays Tabucan and Guzman-Jesena in Mandurriao district; Iloilo Central Market in the City Proper; barangays Tacas, Quintin Salas and San Isidro in Jaro district; and in Barangay Cochero, Molo district.
The youngest victim of animal bite was a two-year-old child from Barangay San Isidro, Jaro.
According to Forteza, one rabies control measure could be “border vaccination” or vaccination of animals in the city’s barangays that shared borders with the identified Iloilo towns.
Iloilo City does not have “natural borders” so it is easy for stray dogs and cats to cross from the towns to the city, said Forteza.
He also recommended the reconstitution of the Iloilo City Rabies Control Council that would be tasked to plot ways and means to keep the city rabies-free.
In Barangay Jibao-an, Mandurriao district, according to Forteza, the CVO was able to eliminate 15 dogs (both stray and pet dogs) that had close encounters with rabid dogs./PN
