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Center for Indonesian Veterinary Analytical Studies (CIVAS) in collaboration with the Animal Hospital of Bogor Agricultural University (RSH-IPB) and the West Java II Branch of Indonesian Veterinary Medical Association (PDHI) had held a free rabies vaccination event themed “Make Rabies History” on Saturday, December 13th, 2008, at the Taman Kencana Animal Policlinic. The event was part of many events created to celebrate CIVAS’ 3rd Anniversary which is themed “One World Towards One Health”. It was also a continuation of the World Rabies Day event, celebrated every 28th of September, where this year CIVAS had socialized about Rabies in Bogor city by giving out bookmarks containing information about rabies and stickers.

Overall, most people in Bogor already knew about Rabies, that it could cause death in humans if they were bitten by a rabid animal or had a wound in contact with infected saliva. Bogor city was selected for this event because it is still free from rabies and is touching borderlines with Sukabumi district. Sukabumi is a district next to Bogor that had a rabies outbreak in May 2008 with 2 fatalities.

The event had received good responses. People had come in from both Bogor city and Bogor district to vaccinate their cats and dogs. A total of 30 patients have been brought to the clinic that day. Many people hope that such an event could be carried out annually for Rabies.