Phuket announced itself a dog rabies-free zone

PHUKET: -- Phuket is proud to pose itself as a rabies-free zone. The announcement was made by the Phuket Live Stock Development chief Sunart Wongchavalit who stressed that Phuket's last case of rabies was in 2000.

According to Mr. Sunart, active campaigns and vaccinations against rabies are active on the island while it also keeps educating the public about the disease. It also follows the World Health Organization's or W.H.O. standard practice to assure residents and tourists of the island's safety standards.

The dog population in Phuket is reported to be over 12,000 of which almost 3,000 are stray dogs. The authority however have put microchips in 300 of them while around 500 are being taken care of at a dog pound in Thalang.

This year 14 people in Thailand were reported to have died of rabies. They were in Yala, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Songkhla and Kanjanaburi.

--thaisnews.com 2006-08-25

good news for Phuket!

whats to stop a rabid dog walking across Sarasin Bridge? I assume they wouldnt normally have to go through the police checkpoint.

or bats etc etc etc ....

but no cases in 6 years is a great thing!