The head of the Surveillance and Immunization Section of the health service, Ngabila Salama, explained during June there was an accumulation of 1,733 GHPR cases in Jakarta, which increased by 206 cases from a total of 1,527 cases in May 2023.
"There were 1,733 cases of GHPR in June 2023 in Jakarta as reported from five hospitals namely two referral hospitals in Jakarta, two hospitals, and one private hospital in Jakarta," she said on Sunday.
She conveyed the bite cases came from cats, dogs, monkeys, and bats. Based on data from 194 hospitals and 44 community health services in Jakarta in 2023, Salama said there were no positive cases of rabies and no deaths from animal bites, only the number of people bitten by animals.
Since 2004, Jakarta remains a rabies-free area which was stipulated through the Decree of the Minister of Agriculture Number 566/Kpts/PD.640/10/2004 concerning the Declaration of Jakarta Province as Rabies Free.
"We call for prevention to be carried out with more sensitivity for children, the elderly, disability groups, animal caretakers, and other communities to avoid specific locations where there are dogs to avoid bites," she reminded.
The health service also appealed to the public to cooperate with the local neighborhood in preventing dog and cat bites, especially in residential areas.
Owners of cats and dogs should also carry out rabies vaccinations on a regular basis in their pets at the nearest veterinary clinic, Salama added.
As for the distribution of Jakarta GHPR cases during January-June 2023, she informed the majority of cases came from outside the region, namely 418 cases.
While for South Jakarta there were 154 cases, Central Jakarta with 156 cases, West Jakarta 260, East Jakarta 369, and North Jakarta with 736 cases.
Then, reports of GHPR cases in two referral hospitals in Jakarta, namely the Tarakan General Hospital totaled 802 cases and 926 cases at the Sulanti Saroso Hospital.
Earlier, Jakarta Marine and Agriculture Food Security Service (KPKP) said it would continue to strengthen policies and strategies to increase rabies vaccination coverage in a sustainable manner for dogs, cats, and other rabies-transmitting animals (HPR) to maintain Jakarta free of rabies.
The provincial government is targeting to vaccinate 43,000 HPRs. Currently, the realization is reaching 37.7 percent. Until now, there were 3.146 dogs and 13.280 cats receiving rabies vaccination.
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Translator: Siti Nurhaliza, Resinta S
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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