UK Top 10 News

Bali has initiated an urgent and widespread mass-vaccination campaign in a bid to contain the spread of rabies across the island, after multiple reports of dog bites, including attacks on tourists.
The Tabanan Agriculture Agency is spearheading the emergency drive, having already vaccinated nearly 500 dogs, encompassing both stray and domestic animals.
The campaign is critically focused on ‘red zone areas’ identified as high risk for rabies transmission.
Gede Eka Parta Ariana, head of the agency’s livestock and animal health division, confirmed the intensified efforts.
At least nine stray dogs around the high-risk area have been rescued and relocated to an animal shelter by a local non-governmental organisation working in collaboration with the agency, a move considered essential to stop the virus from spreading to other wildlife, including monkeys found near Mt.
Batukaru.
Mr.
Partha also urged climbers and tourists to immediately stop feeding stray dogs along hiking trails, suggesting this practice may have contributed to an increase in the stray dog population in the area, thereby increasing the risk of transmission.
The head of the Tabanan Health Agency, Surya Wira Andi, confirmed that most of the bite victims sustained injuries on their feet and have all received the necessary initial vaccinations, currently being on course to complete the full three-dose regimen within a month.
Bali is sadly counted among Indonesia’s rabies hotspots, making this mass-vaccination step a crucial shared vigilance effort to cut off the potential spread of the virus and protect the community.