ITD Update 26/03/09

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" It's Their Destiny "

 

News items on Asian animal abuse

 

 

March 26, 2009

 

 

Rabies linked to dog butchering

 

Dear Friends

The extract below was taken from a press release by the

Wellcome Trust on 17th March 2009. The full report to which it refers can be

seen at:

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document & doi=10.1371/jour\

nal.pmed.1000044 & ct=1

This report is of tremendous importance, not only to

anyone concerned over the issue of dog and cat eating, but also to

healthcare professionals attempting to combat the spread of rabies. We

thoroughly recommend its study.

For anyone who wasn't able to view the recent video of

Sirius' rescue of dogs from Filipino butchers, this is now available on

YouTube (

).

Rabies infections highlight dangers of processing dog meat

Eating dog meat is common in many Asian countries, but

research conducted as part of the South East Asian Infectious Diseases

Clinical Research Network has discovered a potentially lethal risk

associated with preparing dog meat: rabies.

 

In research published today in the open access journal

PLoS Medicine, Dr Heiman Wertheim and colleagues from the National Institute

of Infectious and Tropical Diseases and the National Institute of Hygiene

and Epidemiology in Hanoi, Viet Nam, report on two patients admitted to

hospital showing signs of rabies infection. Neither patient was thought to

have been bitten by a rabid animal in the preceding months.

 

Rabies is a very serious - and in nearly all cases fatal -

disease. It is estimated to kill over 30,000 people each year in Asia, and

the number of cases in China and Viet Nam is increasing. Symptoms include

agitation, severe spasms, fever, fear of water and inability to drink

liquids, and eventually death. Humans are usually infected after being

bitten by an infected animal such as a dog or bat.

 

When the researchers investigated whether the patients had

come into contact with infected animals in the preceding months, they found

that both had been involved in preparing and eating animals which may have

been infected. In the first patient's case, he had prepared and eaten a dog

that had been killed in a road traffic accident; rabid dogs were known to

inhabit the neighbourhood. The second patient had butchered and eaten a cat

that had been sick for a number of days.

 

In both cases seen by Dr Wertheim and colleagues, it is

thought that infection occurred during the slaughtering, and not by eating

the meat as the meal was shared by others who did not become infected. In

Asia, it is believed that eating dog meat enhances health and longevity. It

is eaten throughout the year in the second half of the lunar month,

particularly in the winter months, when it is believed to increase body

heat.

 

In Viet Nam, dogs with rabies have been detected in dog

slaughterhouses and workers at dog slaughterhouses are vaccinated against

rabies as part of the national programme for rabies control and prevention.

However, the private slaughter of dogs is relatively common in the country.

 

" We need to alert both the general public and clinicians

about the risks around butchering and handling meat, " says Dr Wertheim.

" People should not handle animals that may be infected with rabies. Rabies

can be prevented with a vaccine and people exposed to rabies can be helped

with post-exposure prophylaxis, but this needs to be administered as quickly

as possible following the exposure. Once a person shows symptoms, the

disease is almost invariably fatal.

 

" Vietnamese doctors already consider dog slaughtering to

be a risk factor for rabies transmission, but it is important that other

health care workers and policy makers, both in- and outside Vietnam, are

aware of this risk factor. "

 

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-03/wt-rih031609.php

 

Our continued thanks for your support and for caring

enough to want to make a difference.

 

From all the team at ITD

 

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