SIBU: Apart from dogs, cats are also at high risk of carrying the rabies virus and spreading it to humans.
Chairman of the Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC), Councillor Sempurai Petrus Ngelai, said that many people still mistakenly believe that rabies is only carried by dogs, when there are also recorded cases involving cats, especially pet cats that interact with wild cats.
“Many people misunderstand – rabies does not only come from dogs. There are also rabies cases that come from cats.
“Cats look tame, but they are dangerous when they are infected and stay in the house with us,” he said in his speech at the Anti-Rabies Vaccination Programme at the Sang Ik Methodist Church compound, Tanjung Kunyit, Jalan Paradom here on Saturday.
According to Sempurai, rabies infected dogs showed symptoms such as fear of water and light or the sun, compared to cat which has been infected with rabies.
“Cats are difficult to detect and it could injure its owners through scratches or bites without us realising it.
“That is what we should pay attention to because many among our community keep cats. I urge those who have cats to get their cats vaccinated against rabies,” he pointed out.
The programme, which was organised with the Sibu Veterinary Services Department (SVSD), not only involved giving vaccines and installing microchips to dogs, but also emphasised awareness of the dangers of rabies to other pets such as cats.
“I hope the information from this campaign will be spread to all neighbours, and if there is another rabies vaccination campaign, make sure that dogs and cats are vaccinated and installed microchips,” he advised.
He also stressed the importance of installing microchips to record the actual number of pets in an area, thus facilitating control in the event of an outbreak.
Meanwhile, he revealed that most cases of rabies that occur now are caused by bites from pet dogs that roam freely, and not solely by stray dogs.
“Stray dogs are almost gone due to previous capture efforts, but now the ones that roam a lot are pet dogs that are left free,” he said.
He also expressed his appreciation to all parties involved, including SRDC staff, the Veterinary Department and villagers who cooperated in making the programme a success.
He said that the involvement of community leaders such as village heads was very important in conveying awareness information to local residents.
The vaccination programme is part of the ongoing efforts of SRDC and veterinary authorities to curb the spread of rabies in rural Sibu.
The programme initiative is the result of close collaboration between the Sang Ik Methodist Church, the Ministry of Local Government, Housing and Public Health, SRDC, SVSD, Sibu District Office and the Sungai Parah Area Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK).
Among those present were SRDC’s Environment and Public Health Standing Committee Chairman, Councillor Kevin Lau Kor Jie, and SRDC Secretary, Ng Siang Wei.
