DILI, 13 december 2023 (TATOLI) – The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock, and Forestry (MALFF) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) are preparing to provide rabies vaccinations to Timorese who live in the border area.
“We are still concerned about this rabies disease. As we have seen and heard from East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), there was one case of a four-year-old child who died last week,” MALFF National Director of Animal Health Joanita da Costa Bendita told today in National Parliament.
She said that the neighboring country has identified the death that was caused by the bitten dog, thus asking the public to take care of themselves.
“The situation I cannot reveal officially because the rabies is not only our job but also the competence of other member governments. Therefore, in the short term, we will work with the MS to inform the public about what the government is doing and will continue to do to prevent this disease in order for the virus to not infect us,” she stated.
Likewise, the National Director of Disease Prevention and Control at the Ministry of Health, Florindo Gonzaga, informed us that the Ministry, in collaboration with MALFF, has already initiated the vaccination for MALFF’s staff.
“We collaborate with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock, and Forestry, which has already started the vaccination for the staff who are at risk, so we are focusing on the first phase.”
“We have started working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to roll out the vaccination for officers at risk, so we are focusing on the first phase, which is vaccinating agricultural officers,” Florindo Gonzaga underlined.
He added that vaccination drugs will be distributed to health workers and communities at risk of rabies, especially those in border areas.
Based on the Halodoc page, the rabies vaccine is an immunization measure that is useful to prevent infection caused by the rabies virus. This vaccine is able to make the body produce its own protection or antibodies against the rabies virus.
Rabies is a disorder that causes serious and often fatal infections. It is most commonly caused by dog bites, but this does not rule out the possibility of being caused by other animal bites.
Journalist: Felicidade Ximenes
Editors: Zezito Silva/Rafael Ximenes de A. Belo
