Tema-Ghana, March 31, GNA – The Tema Metropolis recorded two rabies cases in dogs in 2022, with no human infections, says Dr Emmanuel Kwao Pecku, the Tema Metropolitan Veterinary Officer.
Dr Pecku said the figure represented an increase over the single case recorded in 2021.
He also said 450 canines were vaccinated against rabies in the Tema Metropolis in 2020, compared to 356 in 2021.
However, 77 dog bite cases were recorded in 2022, as against 85 of such incidents in 2021.
Dr Pecku, who is also the Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Veterinary Officer, gave the statistics in his presentation at the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office’s weekly programme dubbed; “Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility”.
The initiative, among other things, aims at promoting communication on health-related issues to influence personal health choices.
Dr Pecku indicated that a total of 9,850 dogs were vaccinated in 2022, compared to 2,520 in 2021, and urged canine owners to vaccinate their animals against rabies to protect them, their families, and their communities from the disease, which was 100 per cent fatal.
He explained that dogs were accountable for 99 per cent of all human rabies cases and stressed the importance of dog owners taking responsibility and vaccinating their pets against rabies to break the chain of transmission.
The Veterinary Officer observed that while controlling rabies in humans was costly, preventing it with vaccines was much cheaper.
“Post-exposure vaccine for those with dog bites can cost not less than GHS500.00 on the market, while it will cost you between GHS20.00 to GHS25.00 to vaccinate the dog annually and protect your family and the public,” he said.
Dr Pecku stated that despite being the most common zoonosis (transmitted from animals to humans), rabies was underreported because most cases occurred in deprived communities where people could perish from it without reporting to health institutions.
He said Asia and Africa had been identified as the world’s rabies hotspots and it was important that the public reported cases early to health facilities to help save lives.
