Street Dogs Being Culled and Pets Vaccinated in Coordinated Response to Bali’s Rabies Outbreak.
The Indonesian Minister of Agriculture, Anton Apriyanto, has issued a formal regulation (Number 1637/2008) officially declaring Bali as rabies infected with effect from December 1, 2008. According to comments made to the press by the Director General of Animal Husbandry from the Department of Agriculture, Tjeppy D. Soedjana, the ministerial ruling marks the first time in history that Bali has lost is “rabies-free” status.
The Minister’s regulatory decree was issued after four deaths occurred in Bali between September-November 2008 following dog bites. According to Tjeppy, the deaths occurred in Kuta Selatan (Ungasan), Kedonganan (Jimbaran) and Kuta with two fatalities definitely confirmed to be linked to the rabies virus. Although the disease has thus far been limited to these three villages, the Government has declared the entire island at risk due to the lack of natural barriers and the free-commerce between all the different regions of the island.
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