The County Government of Nyeri has launched a mass dog vaccination campaign against rabies to safeguard locals from contracting the viral disease from infected animals.
The campaign that authorities say was a mop up exercise was aimed at vaccinating the whole dog population in the county and also targeting other domestic animals such as cats and donkeys that are also susceptible to rabies.
The move according to County Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries CEC, James Wachihi, was occasioned by several isolated cases of dog bites that were reported last week where a number of people were bitten by stray dogs that were later established to be rabid.
Wachihi also said the danger was not only coming from domesticated animals but also from the wildlife as two cases were reported a fortnight ago in Mathira Constituency where two people were bitten by jackals and infected with the virus.
The CEC who was speaking in Gakindu Town in Mukurwe-ini Constituency while launching the drive, added that besides carrying out the exercise, they were also sensitizing locals about rabies and the importance of vaccinating their pets regularly.
He said there was danger of an outbreak of the disease if nothing was done as there was a rapid increase of stray dogs attributable to the Covid-19 pandemic where many farmers are unable to feed their pets hence let them loose.
“This is a situation we have to arrest and we are pooling our resources together to deal with it before it escalates to uncontrollable levels,” the CEC said.
In order to manage the population of dogs, the CEC said they had procured castration surgical kits that would be distributed in all the eight sub-counties.
“These tools will greatly help control the dog population in the county and have the exercise done in a humane manner using the right tools,” said the CEC.
A resident of Ndiani village in Gakindu, Mary Wanjiku, narrated how her daughter was bitten by their dog that later died of the disease.
Wanjiku who had brought her dog for vaccination said the young girl was treated and was on the path to recovery.