In Face of Growing Problem of Rabies in Bali, Officials Commit to Island-Wide Vaccination Program for Q4 2010.

balidiscovery.com 9/8/2010

Faced with a growing death toll attributed to the rabies virus and the potential disruption to the island's tourist trade, Bali officials have announced a three-month island-wide campaign to inoculate all dogs against rabies.

To date, an estimated 74 people have died after manifesting rabies-suspected with 35 of those deaths positively linked to the virus through clinical tests.

As quoted by The Jakarta Post, I Putu Sumantra of the Bali Animal Husbandry Agency says: "Our target is very simple: By the end of the year all dogs on this island will be inoculated with the vaccine."

Bali plans to launch the vaccine drive in September.

The latest move follows massive inoculations and culling programs against Bali's dogs started in 2009. That program estimates some 300,000 dogs have been vaccinated and 100,000 dogs culled in government-coordinated efforts to stop the spread of the disease. Brain cell samples taken randomly from the dead animals showed more than 400 dogs were infected with the disease.

The latest vaccination drive will be carried out by 200 teams each comprised of six people, including three dog-catchers and one inoculator.

The cost of the new program has been put at Rp. 18.8 billion (US$2.065 million) to be funded by the central government and provincial government of Bali.

In preparation for the planned vaccination drive, Bali health officials are busily laying in stocks of the vaccine.

Because the rabies vaccine must be administered in a series of inoculations, a follow-up drive is scheduled for June 2011.

Local officials are optimistic that Bali will once again become rabies-free by 2012.

August 8, 3:55 PM - Infectious Disease Examiner - Robert Herriman

The beautiful resort and formerly rabies-free Indonesian island of Bali is under siege from the deadly virus.

The outbreak that was initially publicized in late 2008 continues to this day with the human death toll up to 78, and probably many other deaths are going unreported.

I initially wrote about this last October 31 when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel warning for US travelers. At that time the death toll was at 15.

The problem has got to the point where rabies vaccine supplies on the island are running low and may soon not be available.

According to the Jakarta Post, six of Bali's eight regencies - Karangasem, Tabanan, Bangli, Jembrana, Klungkung and Buleleng - had no supplies of anti-rabies vaccines. There was concern that poor patients would not be able to travel to obtain anti-rabies shots.

The Australian-based Bali Street Dog Fund has vaccinated thousands of dogs to help curb the outbreak and the Bali government has even used controversial methods like picking out strays for killing.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, 200,000 dogs have been killed, though many find this an ineffective method to control rabies.

Rabies is an acute viral infection that is transmitted to humans or other mammals usually through the saliva from a bite of an infected animal. It is also rarely contracted through breaks in the skin or contact with mucous membranes.

According to the Control of Communicable Diseases Manual, all mammals are susceptible to rabies. Raccoons, skunks, foxes, bats, dogs, coyotes and cats are the likely suspects. Other animals like otters and ferrets are also high risk. Mammals like rabbits, squirrels, rodents and opossums are rarely infected.

Some infected animals can appear very aggressive, attacking for no reason. Some may act very tame.

The symptoms of rabies are as follows. Initially, like in many diseases, the symptoms are non-specific; fever, headache and malaise. This may last several days. At the site of the bite there may be some pain and discomfort. Symptoms then progress to more severe: confusion, delirium, abnormal behavior and hallucinations. If it gets this far, the disease is nearly 100% fatal.

The only treatment for human exposure to rabies is rabies-specific immune globulin and rabies immunization. Appropriate treatment started soon after the exposure will protect an exposed person from the disease.