NewsDesk @bactiman63

During a joint press conference last week, Haut-Katanga province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Health minister, Dr. Joseph Nsambi and Minister of Agriculture, Aerts Kayumba announced, in total, 263 cases of people bitten by dogs including 13 deaths due to rabies were recorded in 12 months across the entire province.

“As for the epidemiological situation, 263 cases of bites and 13 deaths have been reported. This is over a period of the last 12 months. We said that once declared, there is unfortunately no treatment. So the treatment is more preventive. As for the signs of canine rabies, agitation, the animal is in a situation of ambiguity between agitation and depression, exaltation where a dog is very aggressive, disinterested to those around them. In the same way that humans receive vaccines which are preventive treatments, dogs must also benefit from these vaccines to prevent them from dying from other diseases but also from becoming harmful to humans”, Nsami said.

A rabies vaccination campaign for dogs and cats took place on September 28 (World Rabies Day 2023) in the province, organized with the support of USAID and FAO.