The anti-rabies vaccination campaign in the Federal District, carried out on Saturdays since the beginning of June, runs until the last Saturday of September (30). The Manager of Zoonoses at the Department of Health, Isaias Chianca, reinforces the importance of immunizing domestic animals against the virus that causes rabies and the safety that vaccination brings to animals and humans.
“Last year there was a case of human rabies, so vaccination was much higher than this year. When there are no cases, people seek vaccination less. But it is a preventive action, if the animal is sick there is no point. You have to apply the vaccine so the animal doesn’t get sick. When the animal bites someone, people will worry”, he ponders.
In 2023, 131,818 animals were vaccinated, 121,498 animals during the vaccination campaign and 17,320 during the rest of the year. The total number is greater than the number of animals vaccinated in 2021, which saw a total of 50,000 vaccinated animals. The numbers for 2023, however, are still lower than those for 2022.
On the Department of Health website, vaccination data is updated weekly and it is also possible to find vaccination points on the folder page. Even with the end of the campaign on September 30th, vaccination continues to be carried out in all environmental surveillance headquarters.
It is a continuous vaccination, with the health inspectorate. During the year, partnerships are also made with pet shops, veterinarians and other institutions in the DF. Check here the dates and locations of rabies vaccination in DF.
Lethal disease
Rabies is a zoonosis, that is, a disease that passes from animals to humans and vice versa, transmitted by a deadly virus for both humans and animals. Considered a public health problem, rabies can lead to complications such as fever, delirium, generalized involuntary muscle spasms and convulsions, in addition to progressing to paralysis, leading to cardiorespiratory arrests.
The virus, from the Lyssavirus genus, from the Rhabdoviridae family, leads to death in practically 100% of infected patients. It is capable of seriously compromising the central nervous system, causing severe swelling in the brain. The disease is transmitted to humans through the saliva of animals infected with the virus.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), rabies still kills 70,000 people a year worldwide. In Brazil, the incidence of the infection is still rare, but it increased again in 2022, with five new cases among humans since then. Since 1986, there have been 45 occurrences. However, since the 19th century, there has been a vaccine against rabies, which is quite effective in preventing the spread of the disease, if administered in a timely manner.
With information from Agência Brasília
The post More than 130 thousand animals have already been vaccinated against rabies in the Federal District appeared first in Jornal de Brasília.
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