JABAR EKSPRES – Veterinarian I Nyoman Sunita emphasized the importance of anti-rabies vaccination for pets to prevent rabies, a disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans.
“Only vaccination can prevent rabies, because it is transmitted through bites,” said Sunita in Gianyar, Bali, Sunday.
Antirabies vaccination services, according to her, can be obtained at veterinary clinics and animal vaccination facilities provided by local governments.
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“Rabies vaccination can be done once a year,” said Sunita, a veterinarian practicing in Banjar Sasih, Gianyar, and Canggu in Badung Regency.
In addition to ensuring pets receive anti-rabies vaccination, she said residents should not release pets to avoid rabies transmission.
Animals that can transmit rabies include dogs, cats and monkeys.
Sunita explained that animals infected with the rabies virus have symptoms such as fear of light and water, sudden solitude, excessive salivation, aggression and fierceness, and biting of surrounding objects.
Rabies-infected animals, he said, can transmit the virus to humans through bites or licks on human wounds.
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“If there is a wound and it is licked, it can also be infected with rabies,” said Sunita.
Humans infected with the rabies virus generally experience symptoms such as fever, muscle weakness, tingling or burning in the bite area, headache or pain, nausea and vomiting, confusion or feeling threatened without a cause, hyperactivity, and hallucinations, insomnia, and difficulty swallowing.
A girl in Buleleng district died from rabies on Tuesday (13/6).
Head of Buleleng Health Office Sucipto explained that the child was bitten by her pet dog about a month ago and did not receive medical treatment immediately afterward.
The Bali Provincial Health Office recorded 34,858 rabies bite cases in 2022, 680 of which were bites from rabid dogs. According to the health office, 22 of the bites were fatal.
