Rabies
10/03/20
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Dr. Vasili Basiladze, Delegate to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), Deputy Head of the National Food Agency: “28 September – the World Rabies Day – allows us to once again remind people about this dangerous disease and how to prevent it. Georgia shares and endorses 2015 Zero by 30 Strategy as developed jointly by influential international organizations (OIE, WHO, FAO, GARC), which envisions full eradication of dog-mediated rabies cases in humans. We hold mass-scale vaccinations and active promotional campaigns annually. As a result, the number of detected rabies cases in animals falls every year. This year, compared to the same period the previous year, identified cases dropped by 40% and by 63% in comparison to 2012.”
Organized by the National Food Agency, free vaccination against rabies was administered at specifically allocated venues and near Regional Services throughout the entire country. The Agency veterinarians vaccinated both owned and sheltered animals (dogs and cats).
The National Food Agency vaccinates up to 300 000 animals every year, both within the scope of prophylactic vaccination as well as a part of mandatory vaccination of susceptible animals at the infection foci. This year, 220 000 animals have already been vaccinated. With the decrease of incidence in animals, the number is likewise proportionally dropping in humans and no such cases have been detected in 2020-2021.
Concurrent to vaccination, an informational campaign took place under the GARC 2021 Theme of “Rabies: Facts, not Fear.” Banners made in connection with this date were translated into Georgian and uploaded to social media. A special event page was created, where vaccination spots were shown. This event was announced and actively broadcasted through television.
