Oluwatosin Lamidi
The Lagos State Government has called for vaccination of all pets in the state after its confirmed deaths of two male adults of Rabies virus.
The State Commissioner for health, Jide Idris made call on Thursday in an interview with journalists.
He said one of the two cases was that of a 49-year old man living at Igbogbo area of Ikorodu, who was bitten by his three months old dog that was earlier bitten by a new dog he bought six weeks before incident.
Idris disclosed that patient was admitted at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), and died within a few hours of admission, after killing his two dogs due to their abnormalities.
He explained that other case happened in Badagry, involving a 33-year old man.
According to him, patient presented at LUTH last week, with history of restlessness, agitation, hydrophobia and aerophobia.
The Commissioner explained that the patient was said to have been bitten by a dog about six months before presentation.
He said patient was given Tetanus Toxoid after dog bite, however he died three days ago.
Idris warned that rabies was one of 17 major neglected tropical diseases, which occurred mainly among poor and vulnerable population whose deaths were rarely reported and where human vaccines and immunoglobulin were not readily available or accessible.
“Children between ages of 5-14 are vulnerable to dying of rabies because of their frequent interactions with dogs and due to their small size,” Idris noted.
He said to prevent rabies, all pets must be effectively vaccinated while all cases of dog bites must be reported, investigated and victims adequately treated.
