As the world community marks Rabies Day this week, Thailand has to hang its head in shame.
Sept 28 is the death anniversary of Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), the French scientist who discovered the causes of this disease and how to prevent it in the late 1880s. With the rabies vaccine, the disease should have been reduced, if not eradicated. Sadly, this is not the case for Thailand.
The disease, having been dormant over past decades, reappeared shockingly last year. In Bangkok, 47 rabid animals -- 45 dogs and two cats -- were caught.
The disease's re-emergence was partially blamed on an attempt to centralise vaccine procurement procedures that shift the buying power from local administration agencies to the Livestock Department out of fears of corruption. But the attempt to control the procurement process was not helpful as the disease spread quickly.
While state auditors suspected local agencies, graft was detected at the Bangkok-based department with some officials involved in irregularities that resulted in the purchase of substandard vaccines.
The issue then went from bad to worse. Last April, the government designated 13 areas across the country as a rabies red zone. In effect, it declared war on the disease.
Local administration agencies have regained the procurement power yet the issue still haunts.
As of August, half a dozen of cattle died of an illness that was later found to be the deadly virus in Surin's Kap Choeng district.
There were reports that one of the dead cows was bitten by a dog that had been vaccinated. Unfortunately, there were no reports that any probe was set up after the incident.
Was the vaccine fake or substandard, or poorly stored? Or did it expire? Was the vaccination carried out by a state agency or private vet clinic?
More importantly, how many animals received a vaccine from that problematic lot?
Poor awareness over the deadly virus complicated the problem. Hundreds of Kap Choeng villagers unknowingly ate or touched the meat of the dead cow that contracted rabies, prompting health concerns.
Unfortunately a similar incident took place in Nakhon Ratchasima this month.
One cow after another died in suspicious circumstances in Sida district of this northeasthern province. Yet some local people could not resist the urge to eat its meat. A man who owned one of the dead cows followed the instruction of livestock officials that he bury the carcass while its head was being tested for the disease but the neighbours whom he hired to do the job cut off the hind legs for cooking.
When the test result showed the cow had contracted rabies, some 50 people who ate the meat had to rush to hospital for a vaccination. It remains unknown how the animal got the disease.
In the South, stray dogs and rabies remain an issue.
A young baby in Nakhon Si Thammarat had to be sent for medical treatment after she was bitten by an infected stray dog earlier this month. The case prompted local authorities to declare the area a rabies control zone.
Fears of a rabies endemic caused a phobia that resulted in a tragedy in Nakhon Phanom this year. More than 3,000 dogs and cats were taken to local quarantine stations by worried locals but due to overcrowding, less than half survived. Many died from other diseases like intestinal illnesses and measles. It's a tragedy that could have been prevented.
Those incidents are a testament that the fight against the disease still has a long way to go.
State agencies should review their work and close all loopholes in their fight against rabies. They must do the utmost to ensure not only the quantity but also the quality of vaccines. There is no room for sluggishness.
It's important that vaccine procurement be carried out in transparency and with efficiency. The government, in particular the Livestock Department, must support local agencies so they can handle the issue themselves.
Every party should be aware that vaccines and prevention measures like public awareness and education about vaccination and necessary treatment for those who are attacked by animals, for example, are the keys to fighting this serious problem.
At the household level, the government should make more effort to tackle the issue of stray animals which is inter-related with rabies. Local communities must invest in efforts to curb the population of strays such as by finding homes for them. In fact, strays will not be an issue if members of the public have the right attitude about their pets, meaning those wishing to raise animals must know that their love and responsibility must go hand in hand.