(1) Background: Thailand has made significant progress in reducing the number of human and animal rabies cases. However, control and elimination of the last remaining pockets of dog-mediated rabies have shown to be burdensome, predominantly as a result of the large numbers of free-roaming dogs without an owner that cannot be restrained without special efforts and therefore remain unvaccinated. To reach these dogs, the feasibility, and benefits of oral rabies vaccination (ORV) as a complementary tool has been examined under field conditions. (2) Methods: ORV of dogs was tested in five study areas of four provinces in Thailand. In these areas, sites with free-roaming dogs were identified with the support of local municipal workers and dog caretakers. ORV teams visited each of five study areas and distributed rabies vaccine (SPBN GASGAS) in three bait formats that were offered to the dogs using a hand-out and retrieval model. The three bait types tested included: egg-flavored baits, egg-flavored baits pasted with commercially available cat liquid snack, and boiled-intestine baits. A dog offered a vaccine bait was considered vaccinated when the discarded sachet was perforated or if a dog chewed vaccine bait at least 5 times before it swallowed the bait, including the sachet. (3) Results: A total of 2444 free-roaming dogs considered inaccessible for parenteral vaccination were identified at 338 sites. As not all dogs were approachable, 79.0% were offered a bait; of these dogs, 91.6% accepted the bait and subsequently 83.0% were considered successfully vaccinated. (4) Conclusion: Overall, 65.6% of the free-roaming dogs at these sites were successfully vaccinated by the oral route. Such a significant increase of the vaccination coverage of the free-roaming dog population could interrupt the rabies transmission cycle and offers a unique opportunity to reach the goal to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies in Thailand by 2030.
On 6 Oct 2015, the Thailand Bureau of Epidemiology was notified of a food poisoning outbreak among students in a primary school. An investigation was performed to verify the diagnosis and outbreak, describe epidemiological characteristics, identify the source, and provide proper recommendations in order to prevent further outbreaks. Descriptive and retrospective cohort studies were conducted. Medical records at the hospital were reviewed, and teachers, students, cooks and janitors from the school were interviewed. A suspected case was a person in the school with at least two of the followings: nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain or diarrhea during 5-9 Oct 2015. The water samples were sent to the National Institute of Health for bacterial culture. The suspected plant was examined at the Plant Varieties Protection Division for species identification. Bivariate analysis was used to determine the food items associated with illness. The attack rate was 28.8% with 19 suspected cases out of total 66. Most common symptoms included nausea (85.0%), vomiting (85.0%) and abdominal pain (60.0%). All of the suspected cases consumed the coral plant (Jatropha multifida), which was also the only significant risk for the illness (P value <0.001). Therefore, this event was a coral plant poisoning outbreak. To prevent future outbreaks, a fence around the herb garden with a warning sign should be set up in the school, along with adequate warning of herb toxicity.
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