Ronan Kelly
Retired 2020
15 rabies death in Chennai in last four months
Revathi Ramanan, TNN, Apr 21, 2011, 05.27am IST
CHENNAI: Every day at least 30 stray dogs are vaccinated for rabies at the dog pound maintained by the Blue Cross volunteers. The volunteers often boast that Chennai is a model rabies -free city. But they do not know that there were 15 rabies deaths in the city in the last four months.
Rabies control in the city hinges on four stakeholders: hospitals that treat patients, Chennai Corporation, NGOs, and the state health authorities. And these agencies have not been communicating with each other. "In no review meetings has the Chennai Corporation mentioned rabies deaths," say NGOs such as Blue Cross who carry out birth control programmes and anti-rabies vaccination for stray dogs. "Could the deaths be due to other animals?" Dawn Williams, resident manager for Blue Cross, asked in disbelief.
Blue Cross, along with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals and the People for Animals, has taken up the work of identifying, sterilising and vaccinating stray dogs in the Chennai Corporation limits. Though sterilisation is a one-time effort to reduce dog population, vaccinations need to be carried out every year.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiat...458697_1_rabies-deaths-stray-dogs-vaccination
Revathi Ramanan, TNN, Apr 21, 2011, 05.27am IST
CHENNAI: Every day at least 30 stray dogs are vaccinated for rabies at the dog pound maintained by the Blue Cross volunteers. The volunteers often boast that Chennai is a model rabies -free city. But they do not know that there were 15 rabies deaths in the city in the last four months.
Rabies control in the city hinges on four stakeholders: hospitals that treat patients, Chennai Corporation, NGOs, and the state health authorities. And these agencies have not been communicating with each other. "In no review meetings has the Chennai Corporation mentioned rabies deaths," say NGOs such as Blue Cross who carry out birth control programmes and anti-rabies vaccination for stray dogs. "Could the deaths be due to other animals?" Dawn Williams, resident manager for Blue Cross, asked in disbelief.
Blue Cross, along with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals and the People for Animals, has taken up the work of identifying, sterilising and vaccinating stray dogs in the Chennai Corporation limits. Though sterilisation is a one-time effort to reduce dog population, vaccinations need to be carried out every year.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiat...458697_1_rabies-deaths-stray-dogs-vaccination