By Eunice Orike
Federal capital territory administration FCTA has commenced a two-week free mass vaccination campaign targeting between 15,000 and 20,000 dogs and cats across the territory to curb the spread of rabies.
The Mandate Secretary, Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, Sulieman Ango, disclosed this on Wednesday while monitoring the exercise in Gwagwalada Area Council.
Ango said the campaign was aimed at creating a protective barrier against the deadly virus, particularly following confirmed cases in Gwagwalada and Kwali Area Councils.
According to him, more than 100 experienced veterinary officers have been deployed to strategic locations across the FCT to ensure effective coverage during the exercise.
“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.
He explained that his decision to personally monitor the exercise was to ensure that the intervention was properly implemented and achieved its intended results.
Ango commended the veterinary team for its quick response to the outbreak, noting that apart from the cases initially recorded in Gwagwalada and Kwali, no new cases had been reported elsewhere in the FCT.
He also attributed the rapid mobilisation of resources to the prompt approval and support of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
The mandate secretary urged residents not to panic, but to cooperate with veterinary officers by making their dogs and cats available for vaccination.
“Everybody should remain calm the government is there for them. With our minister at the helm of affairs, residents do not need to be scared of anything.
“The vaccination exercise will continue daily across designated centres in all six area councils over the next fortnight,” Ango said.
Also speaking, the Director of Veterinary Services, Dr Karnak Dandam, said the free vaccination exercise was designed to cover all 62 wards of the FCT as part of efforts to eliminate rabies from the territory.
Dandam described rabies as a 100 per cent fatal disease once clinical symptoms appear in an infected human being, stressing, however, that the disease is completely preventable through proper vaccination of animals.
“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.
“Even if a vaccinated dog bites you, you are safe from rabies,” he said.
