Mission Rabies Goa Monthly Report – April 2018 By Julie Corfmat, Project Manager Vaccination Total number of dogs vaccinated in April 2018 = 4,603 During April 2018, the pre-monsoon temperatures continued to rise making working conditions extremely difficult. The number of teams also decreased this month – April is peak season for Hindu weddings and many of the staff travelled back home to attend family marriages. However, the four to five working teams still managed to complete three talukas in Goa during April 2018. The South squad completed Ponda taluka (Figure 1) with a total of 9,800 vaccinations and moved to Dharbandora (Figure 2). Dharbandora taluka is a rural area which the teams also managed to complete within three weeks (Figure 3). A total of 1,442 vaccinations were administered in Dharbandora. The North Squad have completed Tiswadi taluka (Figure 4) and moved to Pernem. A total of 8,228 vaccinations were administered across Tiswadi taluka from February to April 2018. Ponda Taluka Total Vaccination Coverage Figure 1. Ponda Taluka – Total vaccination coverage February to April 2018 1 Figure 2. Moving time for the South squad Dharbandora Taluka Total Vaccination Coverage Figure 3. Dharbandora Taluka – Total vaccination coverage April 2018 2 Tiswadi Taluka Total Vaccination Coverage Figure 4. Tiswadi Taluka – Total vaccination coverage February to April 2018 This month was an exciting time for the Mission Rabies South Squad as they commenced hand-catching. Two teams consisting of an animal handler and a team leader took to the streets on mopeds; catching nets were replaced with slip leads, muzzles and dog food (Figures 5-10). In just under two weeks the two hand-catching teams managed to vaccinate 533 dogs. Figure 5. Hand-catching equipment Figure 6. Hand-catching teams 3 Figure 7. Door-to-door without nets Figure 7. Restraining by hand for vaccination Figure 8. Armed with dog food and muzzle Figure 9. Hand-catching team visiting local communities Figure 10. Tying a ribbon for the net catching team when unable to administer a vaccination by hand Rabies Surveillance, Testing and Research Total number of positive rabies cases in April 2018 = 3 The Mission Rabies Response Team responded to seven suspected rabies cases during April 2018. Out of the seven cases, three dogs were confirmed positive for rabies upon post mortem and four were negative. The details for each positive case are outlined in the table below. 4 Neutered Owned or Date of rabies case Taluk Ward/Area Male/Female Age or entire Stray 05.04.18 Bardez Bodem Female Entire 4 years Owned 22.04.18 Bardez Bastora Male Entire 4 months Owned 26.04.18 Pernem Virnoda Male Entire 3 months Owned The Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services have recently completed the construction of the new post-mortem examination room at the Government Veterinary Hospital in Tonca, Panjim. Thanks to Dr Vilas Naik, Assistant Director and Nodal Officer for Mission Rabies for taking the initiative of implementing the Mission Rabies structure design. The room is now being used by Mission Rabies for all necropsies as well as by the Government for other small animal and small ruminant necropsies (Figure 11). The department has also cleared out kennels for Mission Rabies to use as a quarantine and isolation facility for rabies suspected dogs. Dr Gustav Pinto, Assistant Director very kindly made this possible. Figure 11. The new purpose built post-mortem room at the Government Veterinary Hospital This month was a particularly exciting time for Mission Rabies Goa as Integrated Bite Case Management (IBCM) commenced in the state. This is the first time IBCM has been launched in India and again Goa has been put on the international map of rabies control. Thanks to Dr Utkarsh Betodkar, State Programme Officer, National Rabies Control Project, Directorate of Health Services for gaining permission from the Government of Goa for Mission Rabies to initiate the IBCM program. 5 Omkar (Figure 12) – Mission Rabies first IBCM Officer has been following up on bite victims from Siolim Health Centre in North Goa. Omkar and the rest of the Goa IBCM team were trained (Figure 13) by a leading expert – Dr Ryan Wallace from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Ryan is one of the primary implementers of IBCM outside of the USA and currently manages IBCM programs in Haiti and Vietnam. Figure 12. New IBCM Officer – ‘Omkar’ Figure 13. IBCM training with Gowri Yale, Andy Gibson and Ryan Wallace Team Structure The teams bid farewell to Dr Manvir and Dr Cathrina in April 2018. Dr Manvir was an excellent and hard-working team leader. He took to the work with such enthusiasm and also offered some great suggestions on how to improve certain aspects of the project. Dr Cathrina went above and beyond her role as a team leader and towards the end of her MR/WVS rotation she was extremely busy attending to rabies cases and conducting post mortems. We looking forward to welcoming Dr Amulya and Dr Neeti to Mission Rabies next month. Figure 14. Dr Manvir Figure 15. Dr Cathrina performing a post-mortem 6 Education Team Even though it is the school holidays April has been a busy month for the Mission Rabies Goa education team. Education officers Joan, Ashok and Rakesh have been out and about in the local communities raising awareness of rabies. Joan met and educated South Goa beach cleaners (figure 16) and lifeguards (Figure 17). The lifeguards always interact with the beach dogs and the cleaners are often scared of the dogs and resort to carrying sticks to ward them off. The dogs often react quite strongly to the cleaners and they are many bite incidents so the educational sessions were highly beneficial. In addition, Joan educated 120 Anganwadi workers in Mormugao taluka (Figure 18). They were also extremely happy to receive the information on preventing dog bites as they regularly go door-to-door and face a lot of problems with the dogs. Figure 16. Joan with the Colva beach cleaners Figure 17. Educational session for the Benaulim lifeguards Figure 18. 120 Anganwadi workers participated in rabies awareness session 7 Ashok and Rakesh have been working ahead of the North and South squads intimating panchayats regarding the vaccination team’s schedule, gathering support for vaccination and raising awareness. Ashok has conducted educational sessions for employees at various electricity departments (Figure 19) and construction sites where there are many myths and misconceptions regarding rabies (Figure 20). Rakesh also held educational sessions for Anganwadi workers (Figure 21), hospital staff and students at the Industrial Training institute (Figure 22). Figure 19. Education session at the Chimbel electricity department Figure 20. Rabies awareness for construction workers Figure 21. Rakesh with Anganwadi workers Figure 22. Students at the Industrial Training Institute Saturday 28th April was World Veterinary Day and to mark the occasion Mission Rabies were invited to attend a meeting held at the Taj Vivanta hotel in Panjim. The event was organised by the Goa Veterinary Council and Directorate of Animal Husbandry and was well attended by veterinarians from across Goa. Dr Murugan – Misson Rabies India Education Director, Dr Karlette Fernandes and Nigel Otter represented Mission Rabies and an official letter was formally handed over to the Honorable Minister outlining Misson Rabies donation of the DFAT microscope and testing facility to the state. Dr Marvin Lopes – the Council Registrar also requested Dr Murugan to give a short speech (Figure 23) which was well received by the audience. The Honorable Minister gave good recognition of the donation and the work of Mission Rabies in Goa over the past four years. 8 Figure 23. Dr Murugan representing Mission Rabies on World Veterinary Day Meetings, Presentations and Workshops On Thursday 26th April 2018, a Stepwise Approach to Rabies Elimination (SARE) Workshop was held at the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services in Panjim, Goa (Figure 24). The workshop was led by Dr Ryan Wallace - Rabies Field Services Unit Lead, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Ryan travelled all the way from the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, USA for the workshop. Dr Andy Gibson and Dr Frederic Lohr also travelled from the UK to assist with the delivery of the workshop. Dr Gowri Yale helped to organise the workshop which was well attended by participants from the Directorate of Health Serves, Goa Medical College, Department of Tourism, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Director of Panchayats and Municipal administration (Figure 25). In addition, the Assistant Director and the Director of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services attended the workshop. The Honorable Minister also participated in the morning session. The workshop was a huge success and the outcome was extremely positive – Goa was estimated at stage 3.5 out of 5 using the special SARE Tool showing just how far Mission Rabies has come since work began in the state in 2014. 9 Figure 24. SARE workshop held at the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Figure 25. SARE workshop participants 10 Whilst in Goa, Ryan, Andy, Fred and Stella Mazeri from the University of Edinburgh (Figure 26) visited the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). They viewed the laboratory (Figure 27) and discussed the potential for future collaboration between Mission Rabies and ICAR for rabies research. Figure 26. Meting for future collaboration Figure 27. Visiting the laboratory at ICAR Mission Rabies Rescues The teams caught seven sick/injured dogs during April 2018. Two were treated in the field and five were taken to local NGOs for treatment. Thank you to PFA Ponda, SGWTA in Salcete, PAWS In Panjim and WVS Hicks ITC for helping with these cases.