KUCHING: The Sarawak government needs to take serious action to tackle rabies involving cats and not just dogs, said Kota Sentosa assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen.
He said the state government was not taking any action to tackle rabies involving cats, since it could not give any data related to rabies vaccination for cats.
He cautioned that if left unchecked, it would become more serious because cats are not easy to be restrained.
“If the amount of rabies in cats increases to the amount of rabies in dogs, this will be more serious. From endemic to pandemic,” Chong told a press conference after the winding up speech by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas in the august house today.
During his winding up speech, Uggah said the rabies outbreak in the state is currently declared as level two disaster, with the measures taken to contain the outbreak such as through vaccination, awareness campaign and targeted stray removal.
“4,350 strays were removed while 10,514 owned dogs were vaccinated after the Sarawak Rabies Special Ops,” he added.
As of May 3, he said 62 areas were declared rabies infected areas. — The Borneo Post
