Rabies advice that might just save your life - Public health official speaks out

[rooster59]

Rabies advice that might just save your life - Public health official speaks out

 

Image: Daily News

 

Following the case where a group of teenagers in Mukdaharn dug up some dogs to eat that were later found to be infected with rabies, a doctor in disease control has offered his advice.

 

The youths who consumed the dead dogs were all given vaccinations earlier in the week. 

 

The animals had all had their heads removed for rabies testing then been buried by animal welfare after many biting dogs were seen in the area.

 

Head of the Centre for Disease Control in Thailand Dr Jetsada Chokdamrongsuk said that there have been cases of contracting the virus from consuming rabid dead animals. He said it was risky behavior that can cause death. And dogs or cats that died from any disease should not be used for food, he said.

 

Dr Jetsada gave figures for rabies deaths in Mukdaharn and nationwide.

 

Before this case in Mukdaharn there have been three cases of rabies found in dogs, one in each of the last three years. The last death in the province had been in 2009 until a Laotian woman died this year, he said.

 

In 2016 so far there had been eight deaths from rabies nationwide. Two were in Chacherngsao and one each in Tak, Rayong, Sa Kaew, Samut Prakarn, Songkhla and Sisaket provinces.

 

Deaths from the disease nationwide in the last five years were as follows:

 

2011: 7 deaths

2012: 7

2013: 7

2014: 5

2015: 5

 

He stressed that all people who show symptoms of the disease would die.

 

He gave five crucial "don'ts" concerning dogs:

 

1. Don't annoy dogs

2. Don't tread on dogs and surprise them

3. Don't interfere if dogs are biting one another

4. Don't take food away from dogs

5. Don't mess with dogs you don't know.

 

If you are bitten you should wash the wound repeatedly with soap, use some medicine on the wound to kill the virus, seek a doctor's help immediately and have a full course of vaccinations.

 

Source: Daily News

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-10-29

[tonray]

Perhaps he should add:

 

Be a responsible dog owner and not let your dog breed and run wild on every Soi without vet care, shelter, or any training whatsoever.

[Prbkk]

6. Have a national plan for the humane control of stray dogs? Oh, don't be silly.

[Jonathan Fairfield]

7. And don't dig up dead dogs whenever you are feeling a bit peckish. 

[thai3]

Does not take much to annoy a rabid dog

[sikishrory]

"use some medicine on the wound to kill the virus"

What medicine would that be?

[TheLobster]

11 minutes ago, sikishrory said:

"use some medicine on the wound to kill the virus"

What medicine would that be?

 

Iodine - Betadine is one of the brands over here.

[Canceraid]

Hilarious! God save this country if ever a real disease threat breaks out........with officials like this at the helm, the country will will perish in a real crisis.

[mercman24]

best medicine, drink a bottle of SANG SOM , and kiss yer ass goodbye

[mercman24]

concur with the above,, bloody soi dogs, need culling

[lopburi3]

53 minutes ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

7. And don't dig up dead dogs whenever you are feeling a bit peckish. 

This is not as amazing as it may appear - dog meat is probably eaten more than beef in that area of Thailand so the blame should have been on government officials for not doing more to prevent access to suspect infected food.

[fruitman]

14 minutes ago, mercman24 said:

best medicine, drink a bottle of SANG SOM , and kiss yer ass goodbye

 

Lao khao is cheaper krab and some grilled soidog goes well with that.

[BigBadGeordie]

Thank heavens it never snows here!

 

[Lupatria]

1 hour ago, Prbkk said:

6. Have a national plan for the humane control of stray dogs? Oh, don't be silly.

7. Don't dig up headless dogs from animal graveyards for consumption at your BBQ party

[adhd]

why not round them just up and gas them ?  what use are they ?  and still some idiots go feed them...

[lopburi3]

They are living creatures and probably capable of more love than some of us - most would welcome a decent home and are not on the streets by choice.  Perhaps be more useful to make sure all have rabies shots and try to help find them homes.  

Edited October 29, 2016 by lopburi3

[The manic]

2 hours ago, fruitman said:

And don't stop for soidogs when they are on the road, just drive over them and burn their body.

 

Or horn to every one of them so the owners get annoyed and keep them inside.

Horn to every one if them? You meet beep them?

[cardinalblue]

Let's see - more people killed in one vehicle accident than die by rabies annually....

 

need to  focus on priorities....

Edited October 29, 2016 by cardinalblue

[ronaldo0]

More chance of getting killed by an idiot driving a vehicle than catching rabies in this country !!

[dick dasterdly]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

They are living creatures and probably capable of more love than some of us - most would welcome a decent home and are not on the streets by choice.  Perhaps be more useful to make sure all have rabies shots and try to help find them homes.  

Much as I agree with your post, even wealthy countries have found rabies an intractable problem and its just not possible to ensure all wild animals (in the case of soi dogs, 'wild' insofar as they don't have someone to take care of them) receive rabies shots.

 

Charities are doing their very best to sterlise soi dogs - but more keep being dumped by owners who get bored with their pets or can't be bothered to deal with any problems that arise.

 

The 'good news' from the OP is that rabies is rarely contracted by people, and those few could be saved if they receive rabies shots.

 

Actually, enforced preventative rabies shots for people would probably be a good idea?  Admittedly, its an expensive solution to a problem that rarely arises, but would be far more effective than anything else?

[Gainsbourg]

Rabies virus is very sensitive to soap. Better use soap like doc says than iodine. After that u need shots too. Cheap for thai. Less cheap for farlang. 

[dick dasterdly]

2 hours ago, adhd said:

why not round them just up and gas them ?  what use are they ?  and still some idiots go feed them...

I feel that way about some people.....

 

Having said this, I still wouldn't advocate rounding those people up and gassing them.  It takes someone with very little empathy (if any) to want to see any living creatures rounded up and gassed.

[alocacoc]

8. Particular to Motorcycle Taxi Drivers, don't paint up the dogs.

[monkey4u]

4 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

7. And don't dig up dead dogs whenever you are feeling a bit peckish. 

There goes the take away food business  

[monkey4u]

15 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

....

 

Having said this, I still wouldn't advocate rounding those people up and gassing them.  It takes someone with very little empathy (if any) to want to see any living creatures rounded up and gassed.

I agree with you in general

But there are a few who need to be recycled   

[gandalf12]

How about making it a law that every dog has to have the normal vaccinations and Wear a collar with some means of proofing it. Dogs without be put down and owners take responsibility for their "pets"

[dick dasterdly]

30 minutes ago, gandalf12 said:

How about making it a law that every dog has to have the normal vaccinations and Wear a collar with some means of proofing it. Dogs without be put down and owners take responsibility for their "pets"

Not sure what you mean by "proofing it" re. wearing a collar?  Possibly you mean a collar with an identification tag?

 

Personal experience tells me that both identification tags and collars are sometimes separated from dogs when they get tangled in shrubs/fencing etc. etc.

 

On the other hand, I have a 'good news' story when New Year 2 years ago one of my dogs was so terrified by the fireworks, she managed to get through the patio door 'grating', ran about a km and was rescued by a 24 hour restaurant!  She had a 'tag' on her collar and so they immediately called me so that I could bring her back home .   Edit - the restaurant staff worked in Lucky 13 in Rawai, and well deserve a mention for being such lovely people.

 

Regardless, you obviously mean that all soi dogs should be put down, as should my dog if she'd been unlucky enough to have lost her collar and/or tag when squeezing through the patio door grating.

 

Obviously your 'destroy all soi dogs' idea wouldn't eradicate rabies, but at least it lets me know that you're one of those with little (or no) empathy who prefer that anything that annoys them should be eliminated.

Edited October 29, 2016 by dick dasterdly

[gandalf12]

13 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

Not sure what you mean by "proofing it" re. wearing a collar?  Possibly you mean a collar with an identification tag?

 

Personal experience tells me that both identification tags and collars are sometimes separated from dogs when they get tangled in shrubs/fencing etc. etc.

 

On the other hand, I have a 'good news' story when New Year 2 years ago one of my dogs was so terrified by the fireworks, she managed to get through the patio door 'grating', ran about a km and was rescued by a 24 hour restaurant!  She had a 'tag' on her collar and so they immediately called me so that I could bring her back home .   Edit - the restaurant staff worked in Lucky 13 in Rawai, and well deserve a mention for being such lovely people.

 

Regardless, you obviously mean that all soi dogs should be put down, as should my dog if she'd been unlucky enough to have lost her collar and/or tag when squeezing through the patio door grating.

 

Obviously your 'destroy all soi dogs' idea wouldn't eradicate rabies, but at least it lets me know that you're one of those with little (or no) empathy who prefer that anything that annoys them should be eliminated.

Was supposed to be proving, but yes why not. It would not destroy rabies but it would cut down on people being bitten with the possibility of contracting rabies.

Your dog is your responsibility, anyway why would you let it out to foul the pavements and be a public nuisance?

Edited October 29, 2016 by gandalf12

[dick dasterdly]

21 minutes ago, gandalf12 said:

Was supposed to be proving, but yes why not. It would not destroy rabies but it would cut down on people being bitten with the possibility of contracting rabies.

Your dog is your responsibility, anyway why would you let it out to foul the pavements and be a public nuisance?

Heavy sigh, you obviously 'skimmed' my post and didn't read (or ignored) the relevant details.

 

Not that it matters as you've admitted that killing all soi dogs wouldn't get rid of rabies - and this thread is about the advice given about rabies plus how rare it is.  Not to mention if unlucky enough to be bitten, rabies can be easily prevented by getting the necessary jabs.

 

You'd prefer to kill all soi dogs even whilst admitting that this won't get rid of rabies.....

[senor123]

I was recently bitten by a wild cat in Sam Roy and it was totally my fault. Coming from a country where rabies is not an issue I just put a bit of tissue paper on the bites to stop the bleeding and carried on. However, at the insistence of my missus I went to the local clinic where the Doctor informed me, when I asked what the symptoms were, that you are dead. Hmmm off to the local hospital where they cleaned the wound very deeply, gave my the first shot of a course of 5 and 600 baht later I was out of there. All in a day's work and a good job by the medical staff. However, when I got home and was due for the last of the shots, the  Government Health department got involved, Doctors were consulted, WHO info was checked and vaccine was couriered out to my local clinic and I was treated quick smart. Lesson learned.