Rabies is a preventable disease

MUSCAT: The Sultanate marked the World Rabies Day, which falls on September 28, on Tuesday.

Rabies, a viral zoonotic disease, is prevalent in more than 150 countries worldwide.Though rabies is a vaccine preventable disease, nearly 60,000 people, including 40 per cent of children, contract the fatal illness each year. With an aim to educate the public on risks of rabies and carry out an anti-rabies drive, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health dedicated September 28 as World Rabies Day. In the Sultanate, foxes living in caves and deserts are the main sources behind rabies cases reported in the Sultanate.

The Ministry of Agricultural Wealth, Fisheries and Water Resources has implemented many measures to protect the lives of people and animals alike.

It has enacted the necessary laws and rules to combat and control the disease. The ministry is conducting many awareness programmes to educate livestock breeders about the risks of the disease and how to prevent it. It has provided the rabies vaccine to immunise animals, which are at risk of contracting the infection.

Employees in veterinary clinics, laboratories, children who play with stray animals and livestock keepers are the most vulnerable group to contracting the disease through direct contact with infected animals.

The animal’s saliva is the most common source of transmission. The rabies virus gets infected through bites and wounds. After a bite or other rabies exposure, the rabies virus has to travel through the body to the brain before it can cause symptoms. This time between the exposure and the appearance of symptoms is called the incubation period, and it may last for weeks to months.

The incubation period may vary based on the location of the exposure site (how far away it is from the brain), the type of rabies virus, and any existing immunity.The first symptoms of rabies may be very similar to those of the flu including general weakness or discomfort, fever, or headache. These symptoms may last for days.

There may also be discomfort or a prickling or itching sensation at the site of the bite, progressing within days to acute symptoms of cerebral dysfunction, anxiety, confusion, and agitation. As the disease progresses, the person may experience delirium, abnormal behavior, hallucinations, hydrophobia (fear of water), and insomnia.

The acute period of disease typically ends after 2 to 10 days. Once clinical signs of rabies appear, the disease is nearly always fatal, and treatment is typically supportive. The signs, symptoms, and outcome of rabies in animals can vary, but are often similar to those in humans, including early nonspecific symptoms, acute neurologic symptoms, and ultimately death.