The Rabies Control Unit of the Health Ministry with the assistance of the World Health Organization (WHO) will conduct a census of the dogs in the country within the next two months.
It is estimated that there are nearly three million dogs in Sri Lanka and the majority of them are kept as pets in homes. Around 4,200 people seek medical treatment at Government hospitals countrywide annually for dog bites, DMO Kurunegala Dr. S.M.A. Priyadarshana told the Sunday Observer.
However, dogs are vaccinated against rabies and sterilised by the PHIs attached to the Health Ministry. The killing dogs is prohibited by law, he said.
Dr. Priyadarshana said nearly 23 people die of rabies annually and the Government spends nearly Rs.1,000 million annually to import medicine to treat people bitten by dogs.
He said schoolchildren are advised not to stroke or touch stray dogs since many students are reported to have been bitten by such dogs. When a stray dog bites someone, treatment is essential as it is not known whether the dog has been vaccinated or not.
A dengue eradication week has been declared by the Government from May 26 to June 1countrywide. During the month of May, 1,816 positive dengue patients have been detected countrywide and of them, nine patients have died of dengue during this month, he added.
