The World Health Organisation (WHO) noted that it would be difficult for India to battle rabies in humans and animals until reporting of cases is made mandatory. While Bengaluru does not appear to have a rabies problem, canines on the outskirts pose a risk, say civic officials.
"While strays in the city are vaccinated, it is canines from areas outside the BBMP limits that pose a problem," said P. Maheshwara Gouda, Joint Director of Animal Husbandry. The BBMP has vaccinated 13,903 dogs within its limits since April, a marked increase over last year’s figures when 21,714 were vaccinated.
D.H. Ashwath Narayana, head of Community Medicine, Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bengaluru, seconded this claim. "While metros like Bengaluru have fared well in reducing the number of rabies cases, the same cannot be said of smaller towns and villages where there is far less awareness about rabies and it is difficult to obtain the necessary treatment in a short space of time."
At the Government Veterinary Hospital on Queen's Road, Bengaluru, around 200 dogs are vaccinated per month. “If a dog is bitten by another dog, we give it five vaccinations over a month," said Dr. Nagendra, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry.
One-third cases of human rabies in IndiaThe WHO reports that roughly 36 per cent of the world’s rabies deaths in humans occur in India each year. It has requested the Union government to make it mandatory to report cases of rabies in humans and dogs. "Rabies is fatal in humans if detected late, but if the victim is given fast-acting immune globulin and vaccinations as soon as possible, before symptoms start to show, there is a chance that the patient may survive," Dr. Narayana, Association of Prevention and Control of Rabies in India.
