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NATIONAL SEMINAR ON SUSTAINABLE RABIES CONTROL HELD AT KVASU, POOKODE

 National Seminar on ‘Sustainable Rabies Control in Kerala” was held at KVASU to commemorate World Rabies Day- 2016 under the joint collaboration of Indian Veterinary Association (IVA), Centre for One Health, Education, Advocacy, Research and Training and Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI).Dr. Abdul Muneer, Secretary, IVA (Pookode Unit) welcomed the gathering. In the presidential address, Prof. Dr. Koshy John, Dean-in-charge, CVAS, Pookode emphasized the need for prevention and control of rabies. Dr. K.J. Varghese, Vice-President, North Zone while delivering the keynote address briefed the need for establishing a separate wing for Animal Birth Control program under State Animal husbandry department. The seminar was inaugurated by Smt. Ushakumari T., District Panchayat President, Wayanad who stressed the need for intersectoral collaboration and also emphasized to consider the welfare of Dogs during any control program. Tessy D.L., PG Diploma student of One Health was honoured for her Best Dissertation Award with a cash award and citation in the function. Theme orientation was delivered by Dr. Kiran Bhilegaongar, Principal Scientist from IVRI who stressed that we all should consider in house management of food waste to minimize the stray dog population. The Vice President, District panchayath V. K. Asmath suggested to adopt humane approach for stray dog population control. Felicitations were offered by Dr. Asha Devi, DMO, Dr. Geetha K.R., DAHO and the office bearers of IVA, Dr. Sangeeth Narayanan, Sharmada M.K, Prabhakaran Pillai, Subin K Mohan and Dr. Musthafa Kota. Dr. Prejit, Officer-in-charge, COHEART delivered vote of thanks.

The scientific session began with Dr. Rajendra Singh, Head, Division of Pathology at ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar; who presented a paper on ‘Implementing Rabies Control Program - Current Strategies, Gaps and Challenges,’ He stressed on the need for controlling packs of stray dogs in an effective manner to combat the emergence of rabies. Dr. Singh pointed out the need for executing waste management strategies to check stray-dog menace. Humans should consider in-house management of food waste to tackle the stray dog issue, he added.
Handling a session on ‘Sustainable Rabies Control and Animal Welfare,’ Ilona Otter, Director of International Veterinary Training, Worldwide Veterinary Service, Ooty, said that the government should execute animal birth control (ABC) measures and develop anti-rabies vaccination (ARV) strategies in a coordinated inter-sectoral manner to control the increasing incidences of dog-bite related rabies cases in the State. Dr. Illona cited the success story of Tamil Nadu in implementing ABC ARV for effective rabies control.
Dr. Jithesh V., Asst. Director, Health Services Department handled a session on ‘Epidemiology of Human Rabies in Kerala and need for collaborative approach’. Dr. Baby K.K., Senior Veterinary Surgeon, Kozhikode Coperation detailed the Legal Implication on Stray Dog Control.The seminar concluded with the talk on Waste management for preventing stray dog menace by Dr. Deepak Mathew, Assistant Professor KVASU. The scientific sessions were followed by assessment of the anti-rabies titre for the occupational groups including veterinarians, medical professionals and veterinary students. The seminar was attended by around 250 participants including faculty, veterinarians, medical professionals, post-graduate students and under-graduate students.