The Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, has launched an aggressive two-week free rabies vaccination campaign targeting between 15,000 and 20,000 dogs and cats across the six Area Councils of the FCT.
The exercise, being coordinated by the Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, is aimed at containing the spread of the deadly virus following reported rabies cases in Gwagwalada and Kwali Area Councils.
Mandate Secretary of the secretariat, Mr Sulieman Ango, disclosed this on Wednesday while monitoring the vaccination exercise in Gwagwalada.
Ango said more than 100 veterinary officers had been deployed to different locations to ensure the success of the two-week campaign.
He expressed confidence that vaccinating up to 20,000 dogs and cats would help break the transmission of the virus and prevent further spread across the territory.
“We have the firm conviction that by vaccinating 15,000 to 20,000 dogs and cats, we are going to stop the spread of the virus.
“From what we have recorded so far, two weeks is sufficient time for our team to cover this scope,” Ango said.
He said the vaccination would continue daily at designated centres across the six Area Councils, urging residents to cooperate with veterinary officers and present their pets for vaccination.
Ango also commended the veterinary team for its swift intervention, noting that no new cases had been reported outside the initially affected Gwagwalada and Kwali Area Councils.
He credited the quick approval and support of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, with enabling the secretariat to deploy resources rapidly to contain the outbreak.
The Director of Veterinary Services, Dr Karnak Dandam, described rabies as a deadly disease that is completely preventable through the vaccination of dogs and cats.
“Rabies is a very deadly disease. Once a rabid dog bites a human being and the clinical signs set in, there is no survival, but it is 100 per cent preventable once the dogs are vaccinated,” Dandam said.
He disclosed that more than 12,000 doses of vaccines were currently available for the campaign, with veterinary teams also targeting stray animals.
Some residents who presented their animals for vaccination in Gwagwalada commended the FCTA for the free exercise.
Nathan Yusuf, who brought his dogs for their first rabies vaccination, described the intervention as timely, while a local hunter, Bashir Yusuf, who presented three dogs, commended the administration for providing free veterinary care.
The FCTA had on July 15 confirmed eight rabies cases and two deaths in the territory, prompting plans for a mass vaccination campaign across towns and villages in the six Area Councils.
