Mad Dog Bites Two, Kill Seven-Year-Old Boy In Gombe

A Rabid dog has reportedly bitten two people, and kill seven-year-old boy, Yahaya Abubakar, of the Jamari village in the Dukku Local Government Area of Gombe State.

The two other victims are currently receiving treatment at a medical facility in the state.

This is happening amidst the scarcity of anti-rabies vaccines in the state.

A director in the Gombe State office of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Musa Inuwa, spoke about the incident during the commencement of vaccination for animals in Gombe on Tuesday.

He urged the state government to expedite action on the procurement of anti-rabies’ vaccines to arrest the situation.

The ongoing vaccination is targeted at the contagious Bovine Pleuro Pneumonia (Ciwon Huhu), (CBPP) in Cattle and Pesti des petits Ruminant (PPR) in sheep and goats for the year 2020.

Inuwa said, “The most recent reported incident was that of a seven-year-old child, Yahaya Abubakar, and two others, who were bitten by a suspected rabid dog in the Jamari village, Dukku Local Government Area of the state.

Unfortunately, Abubakar, who displayed classic signs of rabies, died while receiving treatment at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe.

“We want to draw the attention of the general public to the dangers of non-vaccination of dogs against rabies.”

He appealed to relevant agencies of government, especially the security agencies, to enforce dog control laws.

In his address during the ceremony, the Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, said, “The event is meant to vaccinate livestock across the state. We have over a million cattle and other livestock in Gombe State and over the years, they have been neglected.

“We have decided to resuscitate the effort in order to boost livestock production and productivity.”

He explained that the vaccination was being carried at no cost to the animal owners.

“The government has bought enough vaccines from the National Veterinary Research Institute. We have made sure that they are the correct vaccines that are being utilized to carry out this service; with the traditional rulers, the Myetti Allah and all farmers’ associations involved, we have the buy-in of everyone,” Yahaya stated.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Muhammad Magaji, also said the annual vaccination was designed to control trans-boundary animal diseases.