Vets Beyond Borders Australia

Published 13 Dec 2010

The first Annual Mass Anti-Rabies Vaccination Campaign in Sikkim has taken place in September and October 2010. Over 15 000 dogs have been vaccinated by the Sikkim Anti-Rabies and Animal Health (SARAH) Division over the 6 weeks of the campaign.  The campaign is part of the State Government aim to make Sikkim a rabies free state.

Rabies is a deadly disease. It is a virus spread in the saliva of infected animals usually by bites. Up to 30,000 people die in India each year from rabies.  More than 98% of human rabies is from bites of rabid dogs. Children are the most common victims of dog bites. The most cost effective way to reduce human rabies deaths is through controlling rabies in dogs.  Rabies can be controlled in dogs by mass vaccination of dogs and animal birth control of the population of owned and unowned dogs.

The Mass Anti-Rabies Vaccination Campaign 2010 operated across Sikkim.  Dr Thinlay from the SARAH Division says “The response from the public has been good.  Many people have brought their dogs to the pre-arranged vaccination centres, and many street dogs have also been vaccinated.”  Dogs have arrived for vaccination on leads, in bags, in baskets.

Australian volunteers worked with the SARAH staff in the vaccination campaign.  The volunteers have been impressed by the goodwill and cooperation shown by the Sikkimese people in the vaccination campaign and amazed by the beauty of the State of Sikkim.

The SARAH Division has mobilized its veterinary teams in collaboration with the departmental staff of different veterinary centres located all over the state. The SARAH Division also sought the help and cooperation of the  Departments of Health, Forestry, and Police, and the Block Administration Centers (BACs) and Panchayats in their respective areas to effectively implement the vaccination programme. SARAH division constituted teams, each with a SARAH vet surgeon as nodal officer, to facilitate the campaign. People who had not had their dog vaccinated were asked to contact the nearest respective veterinary centre or appropriate SARAH officer for details of where they could have their dog vaccinated.

Sikkim is not only the first state of India to undertake a state-wide mass rabies vaccintaion campaign but also the only state where such a comprehensive, holisitic and sustainable public health and animal welfare initiative is being implemented.

Dr Christiane Riedel from Giesen, Germany visited Sikkim as a veterinary volunteer to assist the Sikkim Animal Health and Anti-Rabies Programme (SARAH) with the first state-wide Mass  Vaccination Campaign  against Rabies.   Dr Riedel, a veterinarian, worked with the OIE Reference Laboratory for Rabies in South Africa on the molecular phylogeny of the rabies virus so as to identify the epidemiological pattern of rabies outbreaks and appropriate control measures. 

Dr Thinlay Bhutia, Local Co-ordinator of the SARAH Division told Dr Riedel “The most cost effective way to reduce human rabies deaths is through controlling rabies in dogs and that rabies can be controlled in dogs by annual mass vaccination of dogs and animal birth control of the population of owned and unowned dogs.  Rabies is a deadly viral disease spread in the saliva of infected animals. More than 98% of human rabies is from bites of rabid dogs and children are the most common victims of dog bites. Up to 30,000 people die in India each year from rabies.”

Dr Reidel commended the SARAH programme for its efforts in rabies control.  The World Health Organisation states that if 70% of the dog population of Sikkim is regularly vaccinated, rabies will be controlled in the state.  Dr Thinlay also told Dr Riedel:  “We have had no human deaths from rabies in Sikkim since 2008.  SARAH Division has worked hard for this result, and through our ABC-AR program, we aim to Keep Sikkim Rabies–Free.”  Dr Thinlay explained that in the last 12 months there have been cases of rabies in animals from infected wildlife, but the local, vaccinated population of dogs acts as a first line of defense against sylvatic rabid animals and wildlife intruders. If a dog does become rabid, control measures are rapidly implemented to prevent further spread of the disease.  This has been illustrated many times in the last 12 months in areas such as Pakyong where the airport is being developed and in other areas where there is major development.   Had there been no proper preparedness of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services the impact could have been devastating.

Dr Riedel hopes to return to the SARAH programme to assist with developing an effective ELISA test for rabies in Sikkim.

View the full transcript of Dr Thinlay Butia speech to the Honourable Chief Minister of Sikkim about the SARAH Programme here.