A CHILD from the municipality of Talisayan in Misamis Oriental who has been diagnosed with rabies due to a cat scratch died recently, this was revealed by Gingoog City Councilor Dr. Jerome Magan, Chair of Committee on Health of the Sangguniang Panlungsod SP.
However, Magan did not reveal the name of the victim.
He warned the public to keep their children away from playing with their pets not only with dogs but also with cats if still not yet vaccinated.
He said that the child was scratched by the cat which happened last year and that incident was not given enough importance.
In an interview, Councilor Magan described how dangerous the scratches from the claws of the cats were.
He said the claws of cats are dangerous because they carry rabies from their mouths and that’s why the victim got rabies.
“Habit man gud sa iring ang pagtilap tilap sa ilang kuko ug diha maka pilit ang rabies sa kuko ug dilikado na dayon kung maka kamras kini,” Magan said.
Based on the medical investigation, it was found that the victim had rabies through the symptoms, Magan said
He said usually children are usually the most vulnerable victims because they get hurt by their pets when time of playing.
But in most cases, it was found that almost all of the victims were infected with rabies through cat claw scratches rather than cat bites he said.
Magan said as chairman of the health committee he wanted to amend the city ordinance 2011-235 (Regulations on Prevention of Rabies in Gingoog City)
He said that the present ordinance is focused only on dogs and he proposes that local laws will include the cats.
Magan is interested in changing the ordinance after the death of a child due to rabies and many others were infected mostly due to cat scratches.
Through the proposed amendments the cat will be also regulated for anti-rabies vaccination
For his part, Dr. Al Gonsalez said most of the pets that are regularly vaccinated are dogs.
He said the city government targeted vaccinations is about 80% of the dog population.
Based on 2022 statistics, the dog population in Gingoog City is at 14,074 (female 6,098 and male 7,976), said Gonzales. While the cats are 8,527 with 4,346 females and 4,181 males, he added.
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