The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), in collaboration with the Entebbe Municipal Council and Twiga Veterinary Clinic, has successfully conducted a One Health Camp for dogs and cats at Mayor’s Gardens, Entebbe.
Themed “Share Our Care,” the health camp offered mass dog and cat rabies vaccination, spaying and neutering services, public sensitisation on human-wildlife conflict, and awareness of rabies diseases and other zoonotic diseases.
According to Dr Victor Musiime, the Senior Veterinary Officer at UWA, such initiatives aim to control the spread of rabies from pets to humans in compliance to end dog-mediated rabies by 2030.
He noted that the campaign also aimed to address the increasing stray dog population by reducing their ability to breed and spreading awareness of responsible pet ownership.
“We are doing humane population control through surgeries, for example, spays and neuters, to make sure that we reduce the number of stray dogs and cats roaming the streets, which also may interact with the number of animals and could even pick up rabies and bring the disease to us. We are also doing awareness on sensitisation about rabies disease and zoonotic diseases that can pass from animals to human beings, and also from human beings to animals,” Dr Musiime said.
Moses Keith, a resident of Katabi lauded UWA for such an initiative which allowed their pet animals to receive free vaccination services and also requested more health camps because many are being left out.
Answering the need for more health camps, Dr Musiime remarked that the one health camp will be rolled out in all other communities surrounding protected areas.
“We shall go an extra mile, and even have human medical camps where we have our counterparts from the human medical side. We shall have tree planting exercises, community cleanliness or community cleanups, and several other activities to bring out the whole aspect of one health which looks at three areas; human health, animal health, and environmental health,” he said.
At the climax of the day, over 500 dogs and cats were worked on receiving free rabies vaccination, spaying and neutering services.
About Rabies
Rabies is a fatal viral disease of all warm-blooded animals, including humans. It spreads through bites and scratches from infected animals, and 99% of human cases are from dogs.
Signs in dogs
The signs of rabies in animals include aggressive behaviour, chewing on strange things such as rocks, dirt, or wood, excessive drooling of saliva, fear of light, and difficulty in breathing and swallowing.
Signs in human beings
In humans, the signs and symptoms include headache, fear of water, wind, and exposure to sunlight, difficulty in breathing and swallowing, hearing strange voices, and seeing strange things that do not exist.
Facts about Rabies
Not all dog bites cause rabies; some are free from rabies, but one should always seek medical attention whenever bitten by an animal.
Rabies is not curable once humans or animals start to show the signs and symptoms. Any animal affected by rabies, including human beings, can transmit rabies through their saliva and/or bites.
Most 99% of human rabies cases are from dog bites. Rabies is, therefore, highly preventable in humans through effective vaccination of Dogs and cats.
The cost of treating a human rabies case is 40 times the cost of vaccinating an animal. Human anti-rabies vaccine is also available for humans.
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