{"id":75809,"date":"2025-09-28T16:40:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T16:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=75809"},"modified":"2025-09-28T16:40:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T16:40:08","slug":"world-rabies-day-expert-urges-70-dog-vaccination-to-curb-spread","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/09\/28\/world-rabies-day-expert-urges-70-dog-vaccination-to-curb-spread\/","title":{"rendered":"World Rabies Day: Expert Urges 70% Dog Vaccination to Curb Spread"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Onyeanya Ebere Immaculata<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>At least 70 percent of Nigeria\u2019s dog population must be vaccinated to halt rabies transmission and prevent recurring outbreaks, the Director and CEO of Livestock Management Services (LMS), Dr. Bala Muhammed, has said.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking with the newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, Dr. Muhammed warned that gaps in vaccination coverage continue to fuel the deadly disease, which claims an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 Nigerian lives annually.<\/p>\n<p>His remarks come as the world marks World Rabies Day on September 28, with the 2025 theme: \u201cAct Now: You, Me, Community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rabies is a fatal viral disease spread mainly through bites or scratches from infected animals, particularly stray and hunting dogs. Globally, it causes over 59,000 deaths yearly, with Africa accounting for about 21,000.<\/p>\n<p>In Nigeria, children under 15 remain the most vulnerable, with tens of thousands of dog-bite cases reported each year.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Muhammed called for urgent mass vaccination campaigns, especially targeting stray, hunting, and community dogs that frequently interact with wildlife.<\/p>\n<p>He urged government, NGOs, and donors to mobilise resources, deploy mobile clinics, and train local vaccinators.<\/p>\n<p>He further recommended dog population mapping, school and community-based rabies education, registration and confinement of pets, and improved access to Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), to save lives.<\/p>\n<p>While rabies is preventable with timely treatment, untreated cases lead to paralysis, confusion, agitation, and ultimately death.<\/p>\n<p>According to the World Health Organization (WHO), bats and foxes are common carriers in developed nations, but stray dogs remain the primary source in countries like Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>World Rabies Day also honours Louis Pasteur, developer of the first rabies vaccine, and seeks to raise awareness on prevention, treatment, and the importance of community action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Onyeanya Ebere Immaculata &nbsp; At least 70 percent of Nigeria\u2019s dog population must be vaccinated to halt rabies transmission and prevent recurring outbreaks, the Director and CEO of Livestock Management Services (LMS), Dr. Bala Muhammed, has said. Speaking with the newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, Dr. Muhammed warned that gaps in vaccination coverage continue [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":75810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75809"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75811,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75809\/revisions\/75811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}