KUCHING, May 16 — The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) would ‘reactivate’ the status of rabies in Sarawak as a ‘Disaster’, in view of the rising percentage of cases recorded recently.
Minister of Food Industries, Commodities and Regional Development Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said the matter was agreed upon following discussions with Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also the minister in charge of the SDMC.
“Before I came here, I met with the minister in charge of the SDMC Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, and we agreed to reactivate rabies as a ‘Disaster’ in the state,” he said during a press conference on the launch of ‘Rabies in Borneo 2023 Conference’, held at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here today.
Also present were Deputy Minister I for Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail, Health Department Sarawak’s Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (Communicable Diseases Control Section) chief and Surveillance Unit head Dr Ho Ai Chia, Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) Sarawak director Dr Adrian Susin Ambud and DVS Kuching senior officer Dr Nicholas Jenek, Sarawak Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) representative Gracie Geikie, the conference’s co-organiser Mona Abdul Manap and Business Event chief executive officer Amelia Roziman.
The ‘Rabies in Borneo 2023 Conference’ is set to take place at Imperial Hotel Kuching from Oct 31 until Nov 1.
Adding on, Dr Rundi said as at May 13 this year, 11 cases of rabies involving humans were reported with nine of them causing death.
He said since the rabies outbreak was declared in Sarawak on July 1, 2017, 66 cases involving humans with 59 deaths had been reported.
For the record, the SDMC declared the rabies outbreak as a ‘Stage II Disaster’ in Sarawak on Jan 25, 2019.
Uggah, in a press statement released on the said date, said the decision to declare rabies ‘Stage II Disaster’ was made following the record of 16 positive cases involving humans, with 15 of them dead and one still alive but in a critical condition at the time.
Uggah, back then, also stated the increase in the number of rabies-positive areas involving animals by 61 areas all over Sarawak, except in Limbang.
“Having a ‘Stage II Disaster’ involves managing and handling a disaster situation that strikes more than one district in a state, and it requires coordination and pooling of resources at state level, with help from the central level,” Uggah was quoted to have said then.
Meanwhile, on rabies cases registered in Sarawak during the period from January to April this year, Dr Rundi said DVS Sarawak received 1,251 animal bite cases with 55 per cent involving animals with owners, and 66 per cent were bites due to the animal provocation.
“Cases of animal sampling for this year alone recorded a total of 42 animals having tested positive (for rabies). These animals were found to not have been vaccinated against rabies,” he said, adding that the 42 animals tested positive for rabies were detected from cases identified throughout the state.
“All cases reported this year of animal sampling exhibiting positive result for rabies, were from areas that were previously declared as ‘rabies-infected’.
“Since 2017, 72 areas in Sarawak have been declared as rabies-infected areas: seven areas in Kuching, four in Samarahan, 22 in Serian, six in Sri Aman, three in Betong, five in Sarikei, three in Sibu, one in Kapit, six in Mukah, five in Bintulu, eight in Miri, and two in Limbang.”
In this regard, Dr Rundi stressed about importance of continuing to raise awareness of rabies prevention, vaccination, and control measures, as well as finding effective strategies and solutions to eradicate this infection in Sarawak.
“The state government is very committed to this goal, with the allocation of funds for manpower, logistics and resources that are much needed to fight this disease.
“A part of our action plan is to maintain cooperation and communication with our neighbours Sabah, Brunei and Indonesia, over the monitoring of border control and animal migration,” he said.
However, Dr Rundi said the government’s efforts alone could not guarantee success in the fight against rabies in Sarawak without full cooperation from the community especially the animal owners, as well as the relevant agencies.
“Dog owners must make sure that their pets are vaccinated against rabies and licensed.
“Animals that are not vaccinated are at a high risk of being rabies-positive.
“Year 2017 to now has been a long period; if all parties could play their roles, success in combating rabies would not be impossible,” he said. — Borneo Post
