On 28 September, World Rabies Day, Ministry of Health brought together partners from veterinary and local government in an effort to address rabies prevention and control. Since 1972, Mongolia has reported 36 human Rabies death cases. Events of animal bites and incidence of animal Rabies have been increased. Changes in the environment and closer human contact with wildlife can lead to increased human exposure to rabies-infected wildlife species. Livestock can become infected with rabies by dogs or wildlife, resulting in economic losses and impacting food security.
One of the key activities addressed to raise public awareness on prevention of rabies was a press conference which was jointly organized by WHO Representative Office, National Centre for Zoonotic Diseases and Department of Veterinary and Animal Breeding services.
Dr Nyamsuren, general director of National Centre for Zoonotic Disease emphasized that elimination of rabies requires consistent and sustained commitment of health, veterinary, inspection and local government. Recent achievement made in the prevention of dog-borne diseases is the development of multisectoral Dog Population Management strategy approved by City Governor Office. The strategy aims to address comprehensively public health, veterinary services, responsible dog ownership and risk communication in line with the global best practice.
During the press conference Dr O. Ariuntuya, WHO technical officer in charge of communicable diseases reported that “Rabies is 100 per cent preventable disease. Community participation, education and public awareness are important elements of successful rabies control programmes, and mass vaccination of dogs is critical. Communities need to take responsibility for their dogs, prevent dog bites and know what to do when bitten.