Perhaps global policymakers should realize that rabies should be included in border management activities
In March last year Bhutan sealed its international borders and strengthened surveillance. The aim was to keep the Covid-19 transmission low in the country at all formal and informal border crossing points.
The following August, the first nationwide lockdown was imposed. But then the rabies virus entered Bhutan, carried by some dogs from the Samtse district of Bhutan.
In September 2020, a three-year-old girl was attacked by an unknown, rabid dog and her parents did not seek post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). The girl died two months later. A few weeks earlier, a pet dog and a calf too died of dog bite.
The matter could have been dealt with in one of the routine mass dog vaccination (MDV) programmes but no annual MDV could happen in the Chhukha and Samtse districts rabies high-risk areas. As a result dog-to-dog and dog-to-human rabies transmission.
Perhaps global policymakers should realize that rabies should be included in border management activities.
As per a WHO report, the Bhutanese veterinarians have played a key role in the design and implementation of the country’s response strategy to Covid-19 along with officers from the Ministry of Health, demonstrating that a truly operational One Health approach can effectively reduce the impact of health challenges
Besides MDV, access to PEP is also crucial. Particularly in rural, remote areas where the access to and provision of adequate health care can be particularly challenging, said a WHO report on ‘Covid 19 and rabies’.
“To achieve the global goal of reaching human rabies deaths by 2030, it is fundamental to have people know that even minor scratches or abrasions without bleeding require prompt medical attention,” the report said.
“With regards to PEP provision, the pandemic has shown once more – not only in the case of rabies but of many other health issues – how critical is proximity of emergency health care centers to the communities they serve. The distance from health care centers, and the time and money required to reach them, may easily discourage people from seeking PEP when they are not sure about the severity of the bite.”
As per the report, the Bhutanese veterinarians have played a key role in the design and implementation of the country’s response strategy to Covid-19 along with officers from the Ministry of Health, demonstrating that a truly operational One Health approach can effectively reduce the impact of health challenges.
The same multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral collaboration – where MDV and PEP, and awareness activities too, go hand in hand – is key to achieve zero dog-mediated human rabies by 2030.
After the sad loss of its young citizen recently, Bhutan is on the right track to achieve this goal.
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