Denpasar (Antara Bali) - The Bali provincial administration will again carry out mass vaccination against rabies in April 2014, targeting around 350 thousand dogs.
The mass vaccination will target all dogs in Bali and will be implemented until June 2014, Putu Sumantra, the head of the Bali Animal Husbandry and Health office, said on Sunday.
The vaccination activities which will include vaccine supply, field operation, and campaign, are estimated to cost around Rp12 billion.
"The fund allocation from the Bali regional budget will be around Rp5.6 billion and from the State Budget Rp6.4 billion. The allocation from the State Budget is bigger because it is used to buy the rabies vaccine. Currently the vaccine stock which is available in Bali is 105 thousand doses, and 250 thousand more are needed," he explained.
The mass vaccination campaign will be the fourth to be conducted by Bali. Last year, 356 thousand dogs were vaccinated in Bali.
The number of dog bite cases in Bali tends to be quite high, namely 100 cases per day, according to Sumantra.
"In the previous years, it was 130 bites per day. We hope the number of dog bite cases will decrease in the future," he said.
"The first rabies death case was found in Bali in 2007. The death toll has reached 146 now," he stated. (LHS)
