Mission Rabies Goa Monthly Report July 2017 Vaccination Total number of dogs vaccinated in July 2017 = 5,012 (plus 2 cats) During July 2017, the monsoon rains continued but this did not deter the vaccination teams and the South squad completed two Taluka s Ponda and Dharbandora. The total vaccination coverage achieved in both regions is highlighted in Figures 1 and 2. Dharbandora is a rural part of Goa and many parts are uninhabited. On Friday 28 th July the South squad commenced vaccination in Sanguem Taluka which is also a large rural area. Sanguem is expected to take 3-4 weeks to complete. Ponda Taluka Total Vaccinations = 8,484 (April July 2017) Figure 1. Ponda Taluka Total vaccination Coverage April - June 2017 1
Dharbandora Taluka Total Vaccinations = 1,930 Figure 2. Dharbandora Taluka Total vaccination coverage July 2017 Mission Rabies North Squad It has been an extremely challenging month for the North squad as they have not only been working as a single team but had reduced staff members. They showed great dedication to the vaccination work and took up additional roles to support the team. Natarajan Mission Rabies Senior Team Leader assisted with dog catching and Anthony Mission Rabies Team Driver (Figure 3) helped by carrying the vaccine box, marking dogs and writing vaccination cards! Figure 3. Anthony and Natarajan helping the team On the 24 th July the North squad were finally joined by a second team and both teams are now working hard to complete Tiswadi Taluka. The following map (Figure 4) highlights the vaccination coverage achieved by the North squad across Tiswadi this month. Areas marked in red are still to be completed. 2
Figure 3. Tiswadi Taluka Total vaccination Coverage July 2017 Rabies Cases Total number of positive rabies cases in July 2017 = 4 The Rabies Response Team (Figure 5) responded to nine suspected rabies cases in July 2017. Four dogs were confirmed positive on post-mortem and one was released following a period of observation. Details of each positive case are outlined in the table below. Date of rabies case Taluk Ward/Area Male/Female Neutered or entire Age Owned or Stray 04.07.17 Tiswadi Carambolim Male Entire Adult Stray 16.07.17 Bardez Pilerne Female Entire Puppy Stray 29.07.17 Bardez Nerul Male Entire Adult Stray 30.07.17 Bardez Porvorim Male Entire Adult Stray 3
Meetings/Conferences Figure 5. The Rabies Response Team. From left to right Dileep, Ajit, Dr Balaji and Kali. It was an exciting month for Mission Rabies as the 19 th National Conference of Association for Prevention and Control of Rabies in India was held at the Goa Medical College on the 8 th and 9 th July 2017. The conference was well attended by medical professionals from all over India and several staff members from Mission Rabies in Goa were also able to participate in the conference. Dr Andy Gibson Mission Rabies Research and Epidemiology Manager and Miss Julie Corfmat Mission Rabies Project Manager were invited to speak on the approaches being developed to make Goa a rabies free state and Dr Gowri Yale Mission Rabies Scientific and Technical Manager presented on the enhanced rabies surveliiance and response in Goa (Figure 6). In addition, Dr Murugan Appupillai Mission Rabies Director of Education presented on the education programme being conducted across Goa. A poster highlighting the work of the education team (Figure 7) was also submitted and presented by Ashok Megeri Mission Rabies Education Officer. Although the poster did not win the competition Mission Rabies were extremely happy as Dr Vinay from WVS came away with first prize for his poster presentation on Rabies Free Nilgiris. 4
Figure 6. From left to right - Dr Gowri Yale, Julie Corfmat and Dr Andy Gibson at APCRICON 2017 Figure 7. Mission Rabies Education - Poster Presentation at APCRICON 2017 5
Over News Delegates and speakers from many different organisations including the World Health Organisation (WHO) travelled to Goa to attend APCRICON 2017. This was a great opportunity for Mission Rabies to demonstrate the work being carried out across the state and several individuals (Figure 8) were invited out in to the field to observe the vaccination teams in action. In addition, the teams were joined by a WHO film crew documenting the work being conducted to eliminate rabies in Goa (Figures 9 and 10). Figure 8. Vaccination team with Dr Bernadette Abela-Ridder, Team Leader of Neglected Zoonotic Diseases, WHO and Mr AD. Vos, Export Development IDT, Biologika GmbH Figure 9. Vaccination team with the WHO film crew and Dr Sudarshan, APCRI Founder Figure 10. Dr Amanda Fernandes and Dr Gowri Yale assisting the film crew 6
One of Goa s leading newspapers The Goan, also published an excellent in-depth article on the work of Mission Rabies this month! Special thanks to Dr Stacy s father and Dr Gowri who assisted with the content of the article. 7
Employee Spotlight EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT Name: Rajesab Baligar Mama Position: Driver Length of Employment: Almost 3 years Mama is an uncle to the younger boys in the team and often goes that extra mile to help others. Although Mama s main responsibility is driving he assists with many other aspects of the vaccination work and has even tried his hand at dog catching! As Mama speaks Konkani the local Goan language he is an asset to the team and will often have a crowd of dog owners waiting by his vehicle for vaccination upon the teams return. In addition, Mama s family have taken care of staff members that have been admitted to hospital and both of his sons have worked for Mission Rabies during their school/college holidays. Mama s elder son is also now employed as Catching Manager at WVS Hicks ITC. Catch of the Month! The catchers from the North squad (Figure 11) really were on top form this month and yet again the team managed to catch four dogs at the same time! 8
Figure 11. A dog in each net! Mission Rabies Goa Project Summary Year Vaccination Total 2013 5,767 2014 24,306 2015 56,681 2016 51,294 2017 to date 35,008 Grand Total 173,056 9