Rabies Eradication Goal Out of Reach

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Khmer Times/Jonathan Cox

Cambodia has the highest rate of rabies deaths per capita in the world, with an estimated 850 people killed every year by the virus. Although rabies is preventable if treated quickly, there are few treatment centers, and almost none of the country’s roughly four million dogs are vaccinated against the virus. As a result, a Cambodian is as likely to be killed by rabies as a citizen of Western Europe is to be killed in a traffic accident.

The ASEAN Rabies Elimination Strategy, which has been endorsed by Cambodia, aims to wipe out the disease by 2030. The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture are drafting a strategic plan to eliminate the disease, but the head of the epidemiology department and the rabies prevention clinic at the Pasteur Institute, Dr. Arnaud Tarantola, said it could take decades to eliminate canine rabies from the country.

read more: http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/18302/rabies-eradication-goal-out-of-reach/