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A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
Date: Wed 18 Feb 2009
Source: Independent Online [edited]
The number of children killed from rabies in Luanda rose to 69 on
Wednesday [18 Feb 2009], up from 50 last month, prompting authorities
to launch a new drive to round up hundreds of stray dogs in Angola's
capital city. The Health Ministry said health workers were rounding
up hundreds of strays in Luanda to counter the deadly virus that is
transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected animal. Almost
a 1000 dogs have already been collected since the rabies outbreak
began in November [2008]. Those that test positive for rabies are
killed; the others are released. "This is a tragedy because despite
all the efforts to control the rabies outbreak, things aren't getting
any better," Luis Bernardino, the director of Luanda's largest
children's hospital, told Reuters.
Children aged between 3 and 10 have been the main victims, as they
cannot protect themselves from dogs. Bernardino said the children are
usually from poor districts surrounding Luanda's urban core, where
thousands of stray dogs roam. Authorities in Luanda carried out a
city-wide vaccination campaign last month [January 2009] in which 100
000 animals -- dogs, cats and monkeys -- were inoculated in a city
that is home to more than 1/3rd of Angola's 16.5-million-strong
population. But this has failed to prevent the rabies death toll
among children from climbing in a country that already has one of the
worst infant mortality rates in the world. Two out of every 5
children die before reaching the age of 5, according to the United Nations.
Communicated by:
HealthMap Alerts via
ProMED-mail
[The effort to control urban rabies in the Angolan capital by a
combination of killing rabies-virus-infected feral dogs and
vaccination of urban dogs, cats and monkeys has had little impact on
the number of young children dying as a result of rabies virus
infection. A more sustained effort to control rabies by these means
will have to be implemented in combination with a more effective
education effort to inform the population of the hazard of rabies.
The HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Angola showing the
location of Luanda in the north of the country can be accessed at:
- Mod.CP]
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