By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (1 October 2018)
Rabies is a deadly
viral disease that claims the lives of a minimum 2000 Kenyans every year,
according to the World Health Organization and the Kenya Government’s Zoonotic
Disease Unit.
“That figure
is undoubtedly on the low side since many rabies fatalities occur in rural
areas where they go unreported,” says Amy Rapp, founder of the animal welfare
organization, TNR Trust.
Transmitted
primarily by domestic animals, mainly dogs, but also cats, donkeys and other
warm-blooded mammals, nearly half the fatalities from rabies are children under
15.
“Once infected,
one needs to quickly wash his hands with soap and water, and then go for the
post-exposure treatment,” says Ms Rapp who established TNR Trust specifically to
address the rabies epidemic by eradicating the virus at its source.
“We aim to
vaccinate as well as neuter dogs and cats as the most efficient and cost
effective means of eliminating rabies. Otherwise, [post-exposure] treatment is
not accessible to many Kenyans,” she adds. Estimated cost of it in Kenya is
Sh10,000.
Caused
mainly by a bite or scratch from an infected animal, the rabies virus enters as
saliva through an open wound. It then spreads through the blood stream causing
inflammation of the brain and spinal cord which is fatal.
Yet the
Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) notes that rabies is one of the most
neglected and least researched of tropic diseases. It is also one that
predominantly affects poor and vulnerable populations. According to WHO, if
66,000 people die of rabies every year, 99 percent of those fatalities occur
either in Asia or Africa.
In 2014, the
Kenya Government joined the global anti-rabies campaign for ‘Zero Human Rabies
Deaths by 2030’. The Zoonotic Disease Unit presented a Strategy Paper for the
Elimination of rabies through mass dog vaccination. It was implemented as a
pilot project in six counties, namely Siaya, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Kitui, Machakos
and Makueni.
The most
successful of the six has been in Makueni where the government and Kenya
Veterinary Association have partnered with several international animal welfare
and human health organizations to both vaccinate thousands of dogs and raise
public awareness.
Yet the Government’s
campaign has slowed due to a ‘shortage of resources’, according to KVA’s
Secretary General Emeritus, Kenneth Wameyo.
But given
that reality, one reason Makueni County has been relatively successful in
eliminating rabies is its decision to enlist support of private sector organizations,
like World Animal Protection (WAP).
TNR Trust is
also a private initiative established in 2015 which aims to work closely with
KVA to eradicate rabies by taking a three-pronged approach.
On the one
hand, they have raised private funds to construct a fully-equipped mobile
clinic and hire a qualified Kenyan vet who will travel around rural areas and
towns, vaccinating dogs and feral cats.
Additionally,
TNR (which stands for ‘track, neuter and release’) will also neuter stray
animals as a means of humanely reducing the dog and cat populations.
And finally,
TNR is conducting an educational campaign aimed at reaching children in that
age bracket statistically seen as most vulnerable.
“We were
recently in Karura Forest with school children who we spoke to about rabies as
well as the value of neutering dogs, since most bites come from domestic
animals,” says Ms. Rapp.
Having grown
up on an animal farm in Indiana, USA, where rabies was eradicated years ago,
she established TNR to compliment the Kenya Government’s initiative.
“We have
been raising funds for the past two years so that soon we’ll hire a qualified
vet who will work out of our mobile clinic. And to ensure that procedures are conducted
hygienically, we’ve equipped the clinic [designed by the same firm that
constructed First Lady Margaret Kenyatta’s ‘Beyond Zero’ clinics] with solar
power as well as an inverter and a generator.”
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