The Animal Science Department at the Njala University College in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Bo City Council has on Monday celebrated World Rabies Day.
The Celebration which took place at the Bo City Council included a match-pass by Primary School children from the centre of the town into the Bo City Hall, where speeches were made on the subject.
First to speak was the Deputy Mayor Bo City Council Joe Pyne, who said the day marks a “milestone in the fight against Rabies.” The bites of dogs he said causes rabies and that its patients at the point of death shout like dogs. The Colonial masters he said used to lavish in having dogs but that these dogs were properly taken care of. The trend however reversed with the going of the colonial masters as dogs were no longer taken care of properly. But this he said must be stopped so as to secure our children. “We must make sure that our children are safe from rabies from the pets that we cherish.” And how could this be achieved? The Deputy Mayor proposed the “vaccination and licensing of all dogs.”
Mr. Roland Suluku, Lecturer Njala University explained that the disease is caused by a bacteria called ‘laser.’ Whenever someone is bitten by a dog, he explained, this laser enters the brain through the spinal cord thus getting the brain to swell up, and that if the disease was not treated accurately and thoroughly the person dies. The cause of the disease he stated was from wild animals such as Rangoon, Dogs, Cats, that we call pests.
The disease he said was discovered 400 years ago by a French man Louis Pasteur. And since then it claimed lives just as most diseases and “These diseases continue to kill people even though it is curable.”
In Sierra Leone he said over the period of 2005-6 there were investigated death incidents of 8 people in Kenema and 6 people in Kamakwe whilst Mattru Jong has got a reported case right now. Bo City also he said has reported of rabies but most pathetic of all he said was that there was no veterinary doctor. And in the city of Bo he said that there was lack of attention on the sickness and also lack of proper pest management. To compound the situation he said that in fact “there is no rabies vaccine in Sierra Leone.” It was against this that he thought it fit to sensitize the people on the disease.
Mr. Kargbo who represented the District Health Medical Team related that the only way to reverse the trend was the provision of “rabies vaccine, taking care of our pests which involves providing them a special place to sleep, special eating utensils for our pests and the cleaning of our pests regularly.” To compound the situation he said that there were only 5 veterinary doctors within the nation and that 4 of them were about to retire.
Prof Mansaray Deputy Vice Chancellor Njala University Bo Campus in his short speech said that “We do not know much about it and that is why we do not take much precaution.”
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