Antirabies fight gets results in Quezon towns

LUCENA CITY, Philippines—Three towns in the island of Alabat, Quezon province, are to be declared by the Department of Health (DOH) as “rabies-free areas.”

Janet Geneblazo-Buelo, Quezon public information officer, quoting a report from provincial veterinarian Flomella Caguicla, said the declaration of the island towns of Alabat, Perez and Quezon as rabies-free areas would be the first in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region.

Alabat Island is between the Pacific Ocean and Lamon Bay.

Caguicla said the recognition was the result of efforts by the Provincial Rabies Prevention, Control and Eradication Committee, led by Gov. David Suarez, and the three local government units.

Buelo said that from 2008 to 2013, only 15 areas in the country, all of them islands, had been declared as “rabies-free areas.”

She identified them as Siquijor, Apo Island and Olympia Island in Negros Oriental province; Batanes province; Malapascua Island and Camotes Island in Cebu province; Biliran province; Limasawa; Marinduque province; Camiguin province; Guimaras province; Boracay; and Busuanga, Coron and Culion in Palawan province.

The DOH National Rabies Prevention and Control Program-Manual of Operations in 2012 explained that when a place is declared a “rabies-free area,” it means it has had “no confirmed human or animal rabies case” for at least two years.

A report from the Quezon Integrated Provincial Health Office said Quezon had posted 10 rabies cases this year, which is already higher than last year’s eight cases.

Quezon has 19 animal bite treatment centers province-wide.

Rabies, a viral disease, is transmitted mainly by bites, but exposure may also occur after contact with the virus through skin lesions or mucous membranes.