With the recent announcement of rabies
occurring in Malaysia, there is a lot of misconception going on about the
disease and how preventable and treatable it is. Allow me to dispel some of
these myths with reference sources.
Myth 1: Anyone who gets bitten by a rabid dog cannot be saved and will
soon die a terribly painful death
It is true that rabies will
result in a painful death through inflammation of the central nervous system. Rabies
in humans is untreatable upon the
onset of clinical symptoms such a tingling, fear, anxiety which
progress to hyperactivity and paralysis.
The key point here, as stated in this WHO fact sheet,
is that the incubation period between contact with rabies and onset of symptoms
is typically 1 to 3 months.
Only very rarely do symptoms in humans show up within less than a week. Sometimes
symptoms only show in humans after a year! This gives anyone who suspects they
have contacted a rabid animal, either by touching their saliva, getting
scratched or bitten, ample time to get the series of rabies vaccination shots which
will be 100% effective in preventing the onset of symptoms, hence no death.
The same WHO Fact Sheet also
states that “Rabies is a neglected
disease of poor and vulnerable populations whose deaths are rarely
reported and where human vaccines and immunoglobulin are not readily available
or accessible.”
Is Penang a poor and rural state?
Is it devoid of advanced medical facilities? Why is it so difficult for the
local authorities to share these facts and educating the public?
Malaysians are now panicking and
rushing to get rabies vaccinations, which has resulted in shortage of rabies
vaccinations for humans. This means anyone who ACTUALLY has contacted a rabid
animal and NEEDS the vaccine runs the risk of not being able to get the vaccine
in time because of unnecessarily panicked Malaysians using up the stock.
Myth 2: ALL rabid dogs will become unnaturally ferocious biting monsters
Rabies automatically brings to mind the image of mad dogs foaming at the mouth. However, not all rabid dogs
become ferocious, or exhibit ‘Furious Rabies’. The Baker Institute for Animal Health explains that there are 3 stages of rabies - prodromal,
furious, and paralytic (dumb). Animals at prodromal stage exhibit non-specific
symptoms like apprehension, restlessness, loss of appetite, temperament changes
and sometimes vomiting. This is followed by either furious, and paralytic
(dumb) form.
Only 25-30% of infected animals develop Furious Rabies. The MOST
common form infected animals will develop is ‘Dumb Rabies’ where they drool excessively, become paralyzed,
easily frightened, unusually tame and generally NOT very dangerous at all to
anyone!
Below is a screenshot of a Youtube video of a helpless paralyzed dog with dumb rabies.
 |
| A helpless dog wth dumb rabies. |
To date, the current number of
reported dog bites cases tested positive for rabies is less than 50. Out of
those cases including only TWO dog bite cases in Penang, there have so far been
ZERO human deaths in the whole of Malaysia.
If this is classified as an
‘emergency outbreak’, then authorities are hypocritical by not similarly
declaring dengue and leptospirosis as ‘emergency outbreaks’. As of 20 June
2015, there were 53,823 cases of dengue with 158 dengue-deaths
reported in Malaysia for 2015. Last year there were over 7000 cases of leptospirosis or ’rat urine disease’, and 92 deaths from this disease. Both diseases are endemic to
Malaysia, meaning they have been in this country all this time. Therefore it is
illogical to declare rabies an outbreak when vector-borne diseases have proven
to be a significantly higher threat in Malaysia.
Myth 4: Rabies injections are now necessary for all our pets
The local authorities have been
advising dog owners to get rabies shots for their pets, resulting in another
mad rush by pet owners and shortage of vaccine supplies for dogs.
What the authorities have not told, is that priority of rabies vaccinations should be given to pets that are kept outdoors, where they have a higher risk of coming in contact with an infected animal. Many Malaysians keep small breed dogs indoors where they have very little risk of contacting a rabid animal. While small breed owners should ensure their small breed dogs receive normal vaccinations to protect aainst other diseases, over-vaccinating a small breed unnecessarily also poses a risk. Rabies vaccines, like all vaccines are essentially a small dosage of deactivated rabies viruses, meant to stimulate the body to naturally produce the required antibodies to fight rabies. However, dosages of vaccines are usually given to small dogs is the same dosage given to dogs of all sizes, which is sometimes too much for the immune system of small breeds to handle. Therefore over-vaccinating small breeds
can result in adverse and sometimes fatal reactions, such as in this story where a pug broke out in horrible rashes after a rabies shot.
Therefore
if you have a small breed dog which is primarily kept indoors and does not come in contact with stray
animals, rabies vaccinations are not necessary! Vaccinating a small breed that has close to zero risk of getting rabies is depriving supply of the vaccine for pets that are at higher risk.
What is the real agenda?
It is clear, given the facts,
that the authorities have created unnecessary fear and paranoia over rabies.
This is posing an even greater danger to both humans and pets who actually need
the vaccines because of the resulting shortages, when what should have done is
proper education on rabies facts and how Malaysians should protect themselves
and their pets.
It is not a big secret that dogs
are disdained by certain local communities under the pretense of religion,
however what most people may not know is that Lim Guan Eng has publicly stated
his desire to make Penang a stray –free state.
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