FCTA Targets 20,000 Dogs, Cats for Rabies Vaccination

The Federal Capital Territory Administration has commenced a two-week mass vaccination campaign targeting between 15,000 and 20,000 dogs and cats across the six area councils of the territory.

The exercise, coordinated by the Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, is aimed at containing the spread of rabies following cases reported in some parts of the FCT.

The Mandate Secretary of the secretariat, Sulieman Ango, disclosed this on Wednesday while monitoring the vaccination exercise in Gwagwalada Area Council.

Ango said more than 100 veterinary officers had been deployed to strategic locations across the territory to ensure adequate coverage during the exercise.

He said the campaign would cover all 62 wards of the FCT, adding that vaccination would continue daily at designated centres throughout the two weeks.

“We have the firm conviction that by vaccinating 15,000 to 20,000 dogs and cats, we are going to stop the spread of the virus.

“From what we have recorded so far, two weeks is sufficient time for our team to cover this scope,” he said.

Ango said the intervention was necessary to prevent the spread of the disease beyond Gwagwalada and Kwali Area Councils, where cases had been recorded.

He added that no new cases had been detected outside the affected areas following the intervention of veterinary teams.

The Mandate Secretary urged residents to remain calm and cooperate with veterinary officers by making their dogs and cats available for vaccination.

He said the exercise was being conducted free of charge at designated centres across the six area councils.

The Director of Veterinary Services, Dr Karnak Dandam, described rabies as a deadly but preventable disease, stressing that vaccination remained the most effective way of preventing its transmission.

Dandam warned that rabies was invariably fatal once clinical symptoms appeared in an infected person.

“Rabies is a very deadly disease. Once a rabid dog bites a human being and the clinical signs set in, there is no survival, but it is 100 per cent preventable once the dogs are vaccinated,” he said.

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The FCTA had on July 15 confirmed eight rabies cases and two deaths in the territory and subsequently announced plans for a mass vaccination campaign across the six area councils.

The administration has also urged residents to vaccinate their dogs and cats and report suspected cases to veterinary authorities.