On March 13, in a bid to calm public fears about the ongoing spread of rabies in the country, the Livestock Department assured people the problem was very much under control. It is not. Less than a week later, a 14-year-old girl in Buri Ram tragically died after being infected by the deadly virus she contracted after being scratched by the family’s pet dog.
Needless to say, public confidence in the state’s handling of the outbreak has taken an enormous hit. This is a pity.
The latest outbreak has killed off the Public Health Ministry’s dream, announced in 2017, of turning Thailand into a “rabies-free” country by 2020. Now the battle has returned to square one. Attempts by some officials to downplay the severity of the issue by saying that each rabies zone covers just a small area is not good enough.
