Thread: US$17.6 allocated to fight rabies in Indonesia

As far as I know they we're not associated with BAWA...
the dogcatchers 4 of them had no uniform, riding on old bikes, and from their body-language I could tell they were not used to handle dogs. scared shitless for my rottie
then there were 3 or 4 lowlevel government employess from the dep.agraria also on bikes, and also scared...
And finally 3 vets who came in a new kijang innova with a driver... 2 of them scared, and the women was playing around with Nero (name of my dog).
She knew who my vet was when I mentioned his name, and he works for the Dep.Agraria, so from that my guess is that she and the otger two vets are also from that department.

I contacted my veterinarian asking him confirm my understanding of the anti-rabies vaccine.

Question: If a dog (or a cat) has ALREADY been infected with the rabies virus, but does not yet shows the symptoms, and is vaccinated in the meantime, will the anti-rabies vaccine stop and neutralize the virus?

The answer is NO. The anti-rabies vaccine is PREVENTIVE, but is useless after the facts.

Unfortunately, it takes some time before an infected animal shows the rabies symptoms, as long as five to six months. However, on the average, a dog will show the symptoms after two weeks of having been infected. When it shows the symptoms, it is the ONLY time it can transmit the virus to other animals or humans.

My point for raising this question with the veterinarian was that even after having vaccinated your pet, you still must be careful. Keep an eye on it and monitor its behavior for some time: the vaccine will protect it, and you, ONLY IF it has not been infected prior to the inoculation.

Here's a picture I took of people doing the vaccinations last week in Lovina.