T&T has received the Most Strategic Educational Initiative award in the most outstanding World Rabies Day (WRD) initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean. The event was held by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation. A release from the Ministry of Food Production, Land and Marine Affairs said to better appreciate this significant achievement, one should have an understanding of the history of rabies in T&T. In the early 20th century, canine-transmitted rabies was eradicated from the island. The last reported animal case was in 1914. By 1931, the paralytic rabies transmitted by bat vector was first scientifically recognised in Trinidad. "Fortunately, Tobago remains, to date, both vampire and paralytic-rabies free," the ministry said.
Throughout the decades, several measures have been adopted to combat rabies, it recalled. "A vampire bat control programme has been implemented by the Anti-Rabies Unit (ARU). "The ARU conducts bat roost surveillance across the island, investigates bat biting complaints in animals and humans, assists with vaccination and facilitates public education about rabies." Further, veterinary services execute an annual vaccination programme in which all healthy cattle, bison and donkeys of a minimum age are immunised against rabies, the ministry said. World Rabies Day is observed on September 28 and was commemorated in T&T last year.
