Durban - eThekwini Municipality in partnership with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will embark on a three-day rabies vaccination drive which starts on Monday.
In an announcement on the city’s Facebook page on Friday the municipality said the free rabies pet vaccination drive will run from August 15 to 17 in Shallcross and surrounding areas in Durban.
The sister publication of “The Mercury”, the “Daily News” reported last week that a total of nine laboratory-confirmed human rabies cases were reported in South Africa between January 1 and July 20.
This was according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) July 2022 communiqué:
- KwaZulu-Natal had two cases.
- Eastern Cape had four cases.
- Limpopo had three cases.
- In addition, five probable human rabies cases occurred in the Eastern Cape.
According to the communiqué, two human rabies cases in children, one confirmed from the iLembe District of KZN and one probable in the Eastern Cape, were reported between June 21 and July 20.
The NICD said that from 2018 to date, the majority of human rabies cases have originated in the Eastern Cape, KZN and Limpopo and the source has mostly been dogs.
Earlier this year, “The Mercury” reported that two days after a “normal- looking” stray dog was found lying at the front gate of a Westville house, the dog began exhibiting strange behaviour that is typically found in dogs with rabies.
The Kloof and Highway SPCA took the dog and proceeded to check and inoculate it. However, two days later an inspector noticed that the dog was exhibiting strange behaviour that it had not shown the previous day.
The SPCA said the dog was skittish to the slightest noise, object and even the leaves in his kennel and began howling, which is often typical of a dog with rabies.
“The dog was displaying very strange neurological issues. The difficult but responsible decision was made to humanely euthanise the dog, and the body was immediately sent off to the state vet for rabies testing.”
Test results confirmed that the dog had tested positive for rabies.