Head of the Bali Agriculture and Food Security Office I Wayan Sunada has confirmed that Bali will handle cases of rabies on the island by using the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus-handling scheme.

“We have already had scenarios, such as how to handle FMD, which is a vaccination that we will conduct by starting from the red zone district,” Sunada remarked here on Friday.

The red zone districts due to the occurrence of rabies cases in Bali Province are Buleleng, Jembrana, Karangasem, and most recently, Bangli. Sudana said the office will prioritize vaccination in these four districts.

Earlier, when FMD cases emerged in Indonesia, including Bali, his side implemented the same policy, such as bolstering vaccination, restricting the entry and exit of cattle and pigs, as well as other eradication efforts.

However, in the case of rabies, the Bali provincial government will prioritize vaccinations.

Sunada said that in each district, his side has established rabies posts, the Rabies Alert Team (Tisira), and the “E-Team” comprising village heads, village-affiliated non-commissioned officers (babinsa), yowana or youth groups, and village midwives for the vaccination process.

Meanwhile, the provincial government currently has 78 thousand doses of the rabies vaccine, while the central government has another 200 thousand doses.

“It (rabies vaccine stock) is sufficient. There are 10 thousand doses ready at the provincial post, so the districts can take the doses there,” Sunada confirmed.

According to the Bali Agriculture and Food Security Office data, as of December 2, the dog population on the island reached 632,866, with the highest in Buleleng at 93,337, followed by Denpasar City with 89,796, and the lowest in Klungkung with 18,338 dogs.

The current number of victims being infected by rabies reached more than 600, with the most cases in Buleleng, the office head added. (ANT)