Sidomulyo—A total of seven cattle owned by residents of Cukuhmutun Subvillage, Suak Village, Sidomulyo Subdistrict, South Lampung, died from rabies.

Cukuhmutun Subvillage Chief, Mat Amin, said of the seven cattle infected by rabies, two were slaughtered and sold to meat vendors. “Because people didn’t know it was rabies, two cattle were slaughtered and sold to meat vendors,” he said on Monday (22/12/2014).

Amin said cattle owners sold their animals because they feared greater loss. “There’s still one more infected cattle here, but it’s still alive,” he said.

Head of the Animal Health Division of the Livestock and Animal Health Services of Lampung, Arsyad, said laboratory results of the last dead cattle owned by Idris was rabies positive. “From laboratory testing, we are positive the animal was infected by rabies. We advise owners to vaccinate other cattle to be slaughtered,” said Arsyad.

He explained the cattle likely contracted rabies from dog bites. Owners probably didn’t know their animals were bitten by a rabid animal. After being bitten, how long the disease progresses towards death depends on which part of the body was bitten. The closer the bite is to the head, the faster the animal dies.

In 2013 in Lampung, said Arsyad, a similar incident occurred in Margakarya Village, Jati Agung Subdistrict. Two cattle died after being bitten by a rabies infected dog.

He explained that all pet animals, such as dogs, cats and monkeys in Cukuhmutun must be vaccinated against rabies. This is to prevent rabies from infecting other animals. “We have given rabies vaccines to all pets in the community,” he said.
The clinical symptoms of rabies infected cattle, said Arsyad, are similar to dogs, i.e. avoid crowds, prefer dark places, and hypersalivate. “During the acute phase, cows can become aggressive and balk,” he said.

Head of South Lampung Livestock Services, Cecep Khairudin, said rabies transmission from cow to cow can happen through saliva. Usually cattle in pens are the quickest to contract the disease. Rabid cows can also transmit rabies to people.

South Lampung Livestock Services veterinarian, Anggraini, said there are still two rabid cattle in Cukuhmuhun Subvillage and Budidaya Village. Currently both animals are tied in their pens by their owners. “In Budidaya Village, which is right next to Suak Village, we also found a rabies infected cow,” said Anggraini.

Report: Perdhana Wibysono
Editor: Padli Ramdan

Source: Lampungpost