An emergency vaccination drive organised by the Department of Animal Husbandry on October 23 to tackle the rabies situation in the district has reportedly failed, with only a few wards being brought under its purview. The drive was organised following the death of more than 60 cattle in the district in the past one-and-a-half years.
Around 1,000 people in the Koyilandy, Balussery, and Perambra Assembly constituencies took rabies vaccination in the past one-and-a-half years after they were bitten by rabid dogs, foxes, and mongooses. Even cattle that were bitten by these animals were vaccinated, but it did not have any effect on them. The one-day vaccination drive was organised under the direction of an expert team that visited the region on October 19.
The drive was held in the Perambra, Changaroth, Moodadi, Kottur, Naduvannur, Chakkittapara, Panangad, Unnikulam, Nochad, Kakkodi, and Cheruvannur grama panchayats, besides the Koyilandy municipality. However, the response to the campaign was poor as the public were not aware of it.
Though the team had advised vaccination in all wards, it was limited to a few that had incidents of cattle death. Only the Kottur and Naduvannur grama panchayats had an average of 500 vaccinations, thanks to extensive advertising and awareness campaigns there. Though cows, buffalos, goats, dogs, and cats were included in the drive, most centres offered vaccination only to cows.
