CHAN LI LEEN AND CHONG KAH YUAN The Star 18 Sep 15;
GEORGE TOWN: A rabies outbreak has hit Perlis, Kedah and Penang, three years after the country was declared free from the disease.
To contain the disease, the authorities have been or will be culling stray dogs in the three states.
The order however did not go down well with several animal welfare organisations here.
Those infected must be treated quickly or they will develop fever, muscle pain and headache, which will lead to brain swelling, seizures, paralysis, coma and eventually death.
Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek (pic) said some 200 personnel from the Veterinary Services Department throughout the country had been deployed to the three states, adding that the department would be assisted by the Health Ministry and respective local governments in each affected area.
“The department will be issuing statements and keeping the public updated on the situation.
“We are wary of the situation and taking all necessary preventive steps even though no humans have tested positive for rabies as yet,” he told reporters after handing over a cheque for RM102,500 in death benefit to the family of drowned fisherman Low Tze Kian in Matang, Perak.
Department deputy director-general Datuk Dr Quaza Nizamuddin Hassan Nizam said the zoonotic virus was first detected in Perlis on Aug 19, with 22 bite victims there until yesterday.
“We have culled 256 stray dogs in the state. We have also conducted census on 875 dogs and taken samples from 65 of them, out of which eight tested positive for rabies,” he said.
He also revealed that five people had been bitten by stray dogs and were being treated in Kedah since Sept 13, adding that 476 stray dogs had been culled there.
“Of the samples taken from 65 dogs in Kedah, 17 were positive,” Dr Quaza Nizamuddin said.
He said there have been two bite victims in Penang - a council worker who was bitten during a dog nabbing operation and a boy from a fishing village in Balik Pulau.
Penang Health Committee chairman Dr Afif Bahardin said the first case was a 44-year-old man from Pokok Sena in north Seberang Prai on Sept 8 while the second case was an 11-year-old boy from Taman Nelayan, Kuala Sungai Pinang in Balik Pulau who was bitten on Monday. Both were hospitalised and have since been discharged.
Dr Afif believes the disease was transmitted from Perlis.
He said the World Organisation for Animal Health declared Malaysia rabies-free in 2012 after the last case detected was in 1999.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday declared Penang as a rabies infected area and said all stray dogs in the state would be caught and put to sleep.
“Under the directive, pet dogs are also not allowed to be taken out of the state except with a written permit issued by the department’s Penang director. All dogs which are three months old and above need to be vaccinated,” he told a press conference in Komtar.
He said dog owners should also ensure that their pets are confined within an enclosed space, securely tied and led around by chain to prevent them from escaping and be infected.
Penang Animal Welfare Society founder Barbara Janssen said she disapproved of mass dog killing.
“There are many dogs on the street which are cared by people but not housed in their compound. Most of them had been spayed or neutered to reduce stray population. To kill them outright now is a waste of public money and unfair,” she said, adding that the society would find out from their counterparts in the United Kingdom and India of alternative methods of rabies control.
Save Our Strays Penang spokesperson April Sham said two cases of rabies in the state was no cause for hysteria, adding that it was extremely uncommon for people to get bitten by rabid animals.
“If bitten, people can seek medical treatment. Rabies is not a justification for slaughtering healthy animals. Killing is not the only solution,” she said.
About half of the some 50,000 dogs in Penang are strays, Dr Afif Bahardin said.
He said it was almost im possible to identify rabies-infected dogs and warned that any dogs found outside their compounds would also be caught and put down even if they were licensed.
“We have to contain the disease before it becomes endemic in Penang and all stray dogs would be put down. It is the only known method to prevent the spread of the disease which has a high mortality rate,” he added.
Veterinarian Dr K. Pavabakaran said he had not seen a single case of rabies in his 40 years of practice.
He said the authorities would have the best knowledge of how to contain the disease although he cautioned on a carte blanche campaign to kill all stray dogs.
Penang SPCA administrator Lily Leng said the state had directed the association not to take in any strays and for the public to walk their dogs with a leash as a precaution.
Rabies outbreak: Perlis, Kedah, Penang report infections
The Star 18 Sep 15;
GEORGE TOWN: There is a rabies outbreak in Perlis, Kedah and Penang, three years after the country was declared free from this contagious and often fatal viral disease.
To contain the disease that spreads from infected dogs and other mammals to humans through bites, veterinary services departments in those states will be culling stray dogs.
The order did not go down well with several animal welfare organisations that claimed there were other solutions.
Those infected must be treated quickly or they will develop fever, muscle pain and headache, which will lead to brain swelling, seizures, paralysis, coma and eventually death.
Penang Health Committee chairman Dr Afif Bahardin said the first case there was a 44-year-old man from Pokok Sena, Seberang Prai, on Sept 8.
The second case was an 11-year-old boy in Taman Nelayan in Balik Pulau on Monday.
Both were hospitalised and have since been discharged.
Dr Afif believed the disease was transmitted from Perlis where a case was reported in August.
Veterinary Services Department deputy director-general Datuk Dr Quaza Nizamuddin Hassan Nizam said the first case in Perlis was on Aug 19, with 22 victims in total so far.
Five people were bitten by stray dogs in Kedah since Sept 13 and infected, he said.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng declared yesterday that all strays in the state would be captured and put down.
Under the directive, pet dogs cannot be taken out of the state, unless written permission was given by the State Veterinary Services Department director.
“Also, all dogs three months and older must be vaccinated,” Lim said at a press conference in Komtar.
Strays in Perlis and Kedah were also being culled. Some 200 veterinary services personnel from around the country have been deployed to the three states.
Penang Animal Welfare Society founder Barbara Janssen said she disapproved of the killing of stray dogs.
The society would ask its counterparts in Britain and India about other methods of rabies control, she said.
Save Our Strays spokesman April Sham said two cases of rabies were no cause for hysteria.
The World Organisation for Animal Health declared Malaysia rabies-free in 2012 after the last case detected was in 1999, according to Dr Afif.
Infections likely came from Thailand
The Star 19 Sep 15;
PETALING JAYA: The rabies infections in the north likely came from neighbouring Thailand since the infections are concentrated in Perlis, Kedah and Penang.
Nineteen dogs were found with rabies from 64 tested in Perlis as of yesterday; 17 were infected from 31 checked in Kedah; while three out of 15 tested in Penang were rabid.
The Veterinary Services Department said infected dogs could have brought the viral disease into Malaysia which has been rabies-free since 1999.
However, its deputy director-general Datuk Dr Quaza Nizamuddin Hassan Nizam declined to name the country that the infected dogs could have come from.
“We were free from rabies but the disease still occurs in a neighbouring country,” was all he would say.
He said it was standard procedure to vaccinate dogs against rabies at the border but these areas were quite porous and an infected animal likely got past.
The department was working with the police to ensure that pet dogs in the three states did not cross borders until the end of the outbreak.
Dr Quaza said it would be costly and time consuming for police to set up roadblocks to enforce this, so he urged dog owners to be responsible.
He warned that the animals would be confiscated and quarantined if the order was disobeyed.
“Even if the dog is later found to be free of rabies, the owner will still be fined,” Dr Quaza said.
He advised dog owners to keep their pets within the compound of their homes. They should also keep the animal on a leash when taking it for a walk, even if it has been vaccinated, he said.
Dogs older than three months must be vaccinated.
Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek urged anyone bitten by a dog to seek immediate medical treatment.
As of yesterday, 27 people were bitten by dogs in Perlis; eight in Kedah; and six in Penang. All have been treated and discharged from hospital.
