By Celeste Anna R. Formoso
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, (PNA) — The Provincial Veterinarians Office (PVO) of the Palawan government declared Thursday three municipalities in the Calamianes Islands Group as “rabies free zones.”
These towns are Busuanga, Coron and Culion, according to Dr. Darius Pe Mangcucang of the PVO. The declaration was done in celebration of the World Rabies Day on September 28.
The awarding ceremony for the rabies free zone was done at the MADAC Conference Hall, Makati City Hall; it was attended by Dr. Juanito Pio Lledo, the provincial veterinarian, the three mayors of the municipalities, and the Municipal Agricultural Officers.
The simple awarding ceremony was led by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) with the help of the Department of Health-National Disease Prevention and Control, and supported by the Dept. of Interior and Local Government, Dept. of Education, Animal Welfare Coalition, and other private companies.
Mangcucang said a town is declared rabies free zone if it does not have recorded cases of rabies in dogs and in humans in a span of two years.
Busuanga, Coron and Culion underwent validation by the DOH, he said, to ensure that no rabies cases exist for their declaration this year.
Linapacan, Mangcucang added, also has no recorded cases of rabies.
However, it was not included in the declaration pending validation.
He explained this is because the DOH representative failed to go to the town due to bad weather.
Other towns that are due for nomination as rabies free zones are the towns of Cuyo, Agutaya, Magsaysay, Dumaran, Araceli, Balabac, Cagayancillo and Kalayaan.
In line with the celebration, the PVO conducted Friday a free vaccination of domesticated dogs at the Telesforo Paredes Memorial Pavilion.