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Mission Rabies Goa

Monthly Report – May 2018

By Julie Corfmat, Project Manager

Vaccination

Total number of dogs vaccinated in May 2018 = 5,177

May 2018 has been an extremely hot and humid month making working conditions even more difficult for the

vaccination teams. All the tourists have departed, leaving behind deserted beaches (Figure 1) and a rough pre-

monsoon sea. However, the five teams have powered on and have managed to vaccinate over 5,000 dogs

against rabies. The South squad completed another taluka – Sanguem (Figure 2) and moved to Canacona taluka

in the far south of Goa. The map in Figure 3 shows the coverage achieved at the end of May 2018. Canacona is

expected to take another month to complete. The North squad have started and are continuing to work their

way across Pernem taluka in the far North of Goa (Figure 4).

Figure 1. Deserted beach ahead of the monsoon

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Sanguem Taluka Total Vaccination Coverage

Figure 2. Sanguem Taluka – Total vaccination coverage 27th April to 24th May 2018

The hand catching teams are also progressing well and towards the end of May 2018 a new hand-catching team

was introduced to the North squad. The hand-catching teams consist of a team leader and one animal handler.

They cover their areas on foot and by scooter trying to vaccinate as many free-roaming dogs as possible (Figures

5 – 10). Many of the dogs in Goa run away at the sight and smell of the nets so we hope to achieve better

coverage with this method. However, the hand-catching is still very much in the trial phase and its impact is yet

to be fully assessed.

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Canacona Taluka Vaccination Coverage

Figure 3. Canacona Taluka – Vaccination coverage 25th May to 30th May 2018

Pernem Taluka Vaccination Coverage

Figure 4. Pernem Taluka -Vaccination coverage 26th April – 30th May 2018

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Figure 5. Team leader - Ashu administering a vaccination Figure 6. Animal handler – Ajay befriending a litter of puppies

Figure 7. Assistant team leader – Kedar Figure 8. Dog jumping up for biscuits!

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Figure 9. Head team leader – Frank Figure 10. Animal handler – Anup with a vaccinated dog

Rabies Surveillance, Testing, Research and IBCM

Total number of positive rabies cases in May 2018 = 2

During May 2018, the Mission Rabies Response Team responded to a total of eight suspected rabies cases.

However, only two were confirmed positive for rabies. One was negative upon post-mortem examination, one

was released back to its original location following sterilisation and four were released following treatment for

other conditions. Table 1 summarises the positive rabies cases including a young puppy that died suddenly after

biting three members of the family (Figure 11).

Table 1. Positive Rabies Cases May 2018

Date of rabies case Taluk Ward/Area Male/Female Neutered or entire

Age Owned or

Stray

10.05.18 Bardez Candolim Male Entire Puppy Owned

24.05.18 Bardez Candolim Male Entire Adult Owned

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Figure 11. Young puppy tested positive for rabies after biting three members of the family

The Mission Rabies emergency hotline continues to be busy and a total of 178 calls were received during May

2018 (Table 2). Most of the calls concerned a sick or injured dog in need of treatment followed by complaints

from the community regarding nuisance dogs and requests for vaccination.

Table 2. Monthly Hotline Report (3rd – 30th May 2018)

Sl.no

Nature of call

Total

1 Vaccination request 32

2 ABC request 7

3 Treatment request for sick or injured dog 65

4 Suspected rabid dog 4

5 Dog nuisance/menace 40

6 Bite victim help 5

7 Wrong number 20

8 Other 5

Omkar Sawant who joined Mission Rabies as an Integrated Bite Case Management (IBCM) officer during the last

week of April 2018 has been busy visiting three hospitals and following up on bite victims every day (Figures 12

and 13). This is the first month of the project and it is shaping up well. People have been cooperative and

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appreciative of his work over the phone and during in-person investigations. Since this is the first of its kind in

Goa and India, we are still working towards designing a robust system to prioritise bite victims and further screen

for suspected rabid dogs. The hospitals will be notified of the dog’s health status with patient details after 10

days of observation. The doctor in charge then takes the decision to continue or discontinue PEP after the third

dose. Additional IBCM officers will be recruited to incorporate more hospitals in to the programme. The only

major problem at the moment is that close to half the bite victims are not answering their phones or have

deliberately given a wrong number at the hospital during registration. Table 3 summarises Omkar’s cases and

IBCM work this month.

Table 3. IBCM Monthly Report (23rd April – 31st May 2018)

Figure 12. Omkar following up on a bite case (owner dog) Figure 13. Dog wearing his newly fitted observation collar

Type of Case

Mapusa District

Hospital

Siolim Primary Health Centre

Valpoi Government

Hospital

TOTAL

Total cases followed up 175 112 17 304

People contacted 95 48 8 151

Stray dog bite 26 10 4 40

Owned dog bite 69 38 4 111

Phone investigation 67 34 4 105

In-person investigation 2 4 0 6

Full PEP advised 55 31 6 92

Could have stopped PEP 40 17 2 59

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Team Structure

This month the North squad welcomed back Dr Amulya for her second Mission Rabies rotation (Figure 14).

Amulya did an excellent job leading the teams during the last monsoon and is hoping for the rains to start again

soon! Dr Neeti (Figure 15) also joined Mission Rabies for her second time as she participated in the Bardez mass

vaccination campaign in October 2017. Neeti is based with the South squad and has been successfully

overcoming some of the challenges associated with working in rural Goa.

Figure 14. Dr Amulya with animal handler Rohit Figure 15. Dr Neeti

Education Team

Although the schools are still closed due to the holidays, the education teams have been working exceptionally

hard raising vital awareness of rabies and its prevention in different communities across Goa. Dr Murugan and

his dedicated education officers Ashok, Joan and Rakesh have reached out to various groups this month

including firefighters in Ponda (Figure 16) and Curchorem, nomadic communities (Figure 17), community

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hospitals (Figure 18), truck drivers, sand remover and cement production workers (Figures 19 and 20), electricity

meter readers, children’s summer camps and construction workers (Figure 21).

Figure 16. Twenty firemen attended the awareness program organised in Ponda

Figure 17. Joan educating a nomadic community in Goa Figure 18. Dr Murugan at the community hospital in Valpoi

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Figure 19. Cement workers in Pernem Figure 20. Sand remover workers in Pernem

Figure 21. Construction workers at Dabolim, Mormugao taluka

Meetings, Presentations and Workshops

The Third State Level Committee meeting on the ‘Short Scheme for Mission Rabies’ was held at the Secretariat

on the 14th May 2018 and chaired by the Honorable Minister for Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services

(Figure 22). Dr Murugan Appupillai – Director of India Education delivered a great introductory presentation

summarising the work of Mission Rabies over the past four years. In addition, Julie Corfmat – Mission Rabies

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Project Manager gave an in-depth presentation on the work of the vaccination teams during 2017 and presented

the rabies and surveliiance data on behalf of Dr Gowri Yale – Mission Rabies Scientific and Technical Manager.

Dr Karlette Fernandes also attended the meeting on behalf of WVS and engaged in discussions regarding

sterilisation.

Figure 21. State Level Meeting chaired by the honorable Minister

Mission Rabies Rescues

During May 2018, the vaccinaton teams rescued four dogs suffering from maggot wounds (Figures 22 and 23)

and one with a transmissible venereal tumour (TVT) which were taken to local NGO’s for treatment.

Figure 22. Dog caught and taken for treatment Figure 23. Dog with a maggot wound rescued

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Dr Amulya and her team also euthansised a severley emaciated owner dog which had self-mutilated its leg. The

dogs bones were fully exposed and the leg was infested with maggots. The owners could not care for the dog

and gave consent for euthaniasia as its chances of beng treated and rehomed were very poor. Four dogs which

had preiously been taken for treatment were also released back to their original locations (Figure 23)

Figure 23. Dog released back to its original location following treatment at a local NGO

Other News

Two batches of WVS participants accompanied the Mission teams this month (Figure 24). This is a volunteer

exchange programme which enables the participants to observe and assist the vaccination teams during their

two-week training course at the WVS Hicks ITC. The participants spend one morning in the field and get to help

the teams with vaccinating, data collecting, writing vaccination cards and handing out educational material to

members of the public (Figure 25). So far, the exchanges have gone well and the participants have thoroughly

enjoyed the experience.

On the 5th May 2018 a special guest – Josie a veterinary surgeon from Dogs Trust UK also joined the teams

(Figure 26). In addition to spending time with the vaccination teams, Josie was able to visit the Mission Rabies

laboratory and post-mortem facilities at the Government Veterinary Hospital in Panjim.

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Figure 24. Dr Gowri with Frank’s vaccination team and the WVS participants

Figure 25. WVS participants vaccinating stray puppies Figure 26. Josie vaccinating an owner dog

Catch(es) of the month!

The following images were taken in the field and highlight some excellent catches by a dog owner, Dr Amulya’s

team and two dog catchers Naresh and Rahul. Naresh is our head dog-catcher and has trained Rahul well!

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An owner helped the team by trapping all his dogs in a vehicle. The dogs roam free in the jungle and would

have been extremely difficult to catch!

Dr Amulya’s team went to great lengths to extract a dog from a tunnel so he could be vaccinated!

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Naresh and Rahul both managed to catch two dogs in one net!

Mission Rabies Goa Project Full Vaccination Summary

Year

Vaccination Total

2013 5,767

2014 24,306

2015 56,681 2016 51,294

2017 96,033

2018 to date 35,799