Durban — KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development MEC Super Zuma has called for communities to work with the department in the fight against rabies after news broke that a five-year-old boy died of rabies recently.
Zuma visited the Msane family in Thafeni, under the uMlalazi Municipality, where a child died of human rabies.
Zuma expressed his condolences to the family, relatives, friends and the local community for this incident.
"I am asking the family and the local community to co-operate with us in the fight against rabies.
"We as the department and the government of KwaZulu-Natal are saddened to hear the tragic news of the death of a five-year-old child due to rabies," said Zuma.
Zuma also attended a campaign to vaccinate dogs against rabies.
"This disease is very dangerous, but it can be easily prevented by following the guidelines, like washing the wound where you were bitten with running water and going to the clinic to get an injection to prevent the disease from entering.
“I would like to say that some of the problems that we have faced and the trend that has just started is the theft of government vehicles and is ultimately endangering the lives of the department's employees,” he added.
Zuma said there are places where workers are afraid to go because of the risk of the theft of their cars.
“That worries us as the government because the work of vaccinating against rabies in those areas is hampered and leads to the increase of dogs and cats with rabies, and people's lives are lost just because of crime,” he said.
Meanwhile, last week Zuma called on residents to take their dogs and cats to be vaccinated.
“We are making a clarion call to all dog and cat owners to make their way to our veterinary offices to vaccinate their dogs and cats to ensure suppression of rabies,” Zuma said.
He said that apart from the vaccination that is already taking place at the department’s local offices, vaccination campaigns would be intensified through community visits by our veterinary services personnel to the most affected areas.
Zuma said that through the department’s preliminary investigation, they can confirm several positive cases have been reported in areas such as Pinetown, Mpumalanga Township to Cato Ridge. Over 26 cases were recorded in January in eThekwini Metro alone - which called for urgent intervention by the department. Notably, other western areas which include Kloof, Hillcrest, Waterfall and Molweni have also been classified as a hot spot by the department. Accordingly, they are prioritised for mass vaccination.
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