Jiang Zuojun, China's Vice Minister of Health, today denounced the recent mass dog-destruction campaigns as unnecessary. He recommended that local authorities should increase rabies vaccinations as the primary control strategy.

While his advice is consistent with the latest recommendations from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO), he disappointingly failed to recognize rabies as a public health priority.

At a press conference this morning, Jiang stated that the recent rabies fatalities are "normal" and that China has not experienced an increase in the number of rabies' incidences or deaths.

However, according to data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention within China's Ministry of Health, rabies incidences during the first six months of 2006 increased 36% (961 deaths) compared to the same time period in 2005 (708 deaths). Moreover, the Center reported 198 deaths from rabies in June 2006, surpassing the number of deaths from tuberculosis to make rabies the country's leading epidemic killer that month.

Given the desire and need by local authorities to protect public health against a growing threat, the Ministry of Health should be working with international agencies to develop a integrated rabies control strategy and to communicate the latest standards and guidelines to local authorities.



See the earlier blog on China Should Eradicate Rabies, Not Dogs for more statistics and details about rabies in China, vaccination rates, and China animal laws.