Tag: Rabies

Meet our Mobile Clinic Vet!

Dr. Desmond Tutu, B.V.M. – Veterinarian

Dr. Desmond Tutu received his undergraduate degree in veterinary medicine from The University of Nairobi, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences. He is an experienced veterinary surgeon with passion for animals and animal welfare. He has experience as a clinician from one of the best private clinics in East Africa where he served as an associate veterinary surgeon between 2011 and 2014. Most recently, 2014-2018, he managed a working dog kennel with a private security company. Dr Tutu was responsible for the health and welfare of over 500 dogs, performing surgeries both soft tissue, orthopaedics and internal medicine.

He is an animal welfare and animal rights champion and loves working with all species of animals; companion, livestock and exotic veterinary practice. He has specific interest in dogs and cats especially the stray population. He enjoys the neuter programs and has been involved with the KVA (Kenya Veterinary Association) and the KESCAVA (Kenya Small and Companion Animal Veterinary Association) neuter and vaccination programs as part of CSR that the two associations perform every year.

dr. desmond tutu
Dr. Desmond Tutu, TNR Trust’s Mobile Clinic Vet

He has been part of KSPCA as a student and as a graduate helping out with education on stray dog population control programs. He is very excited to be part of TNR Trust as the pioneer mobile clinic veterinarian. Dr Tutu brings many years of experience with small animal surgery with over 500 dogs and cats spayed and castrated in his career. The objectives of the project are in line with his career goals and offer him an opportunity to realise the dream of a Rabies free Kenya.

In addition to veterinary medicine, he has interest in advocacy, sensitisation, and animal welfare and loves music, reading and travelling.

End of Year Rabies Vaccination Campaign

Held at Getrudes Baptist Githogoro Westlands North on 1rd December, 2018

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How best could we have celebrated our 3rd Anniversary? Together with KESCAVA and the County Veterinary, we organized a Rabies Vaccination Campaign which was held at Getrudes Baptist located at Githogoro village in Westlands North. One beautiful thing about this campaign is that we didn’t wait for the locals to come to the ground. Though it was chilly, wet and drizzling early morning we moved out to different homes vaccinating cats, dogs and also bunnies.

It was very interesting to note how our three young ambassadors who took our volunteers to different homes collecting cats and bunnies to be vaccinated. This is not just interesting but exciting that Animal Welfare is not about the adults but also the young ones. By 3Pm, we had vaccinated 53 cats, 24 adult dogs, 20 puppies, and 5 bunnies, totalling to 102.

Deworming-small.jpgAs we celebrate our three years of existence, we have so far been able to rescue, rehome, spay/neuter and vaccinated 221 dogs and 45 cats to date.

This campaign would not be a success if we didn’t have a team of Veterinary Doctors who sacrificed their time and braved the weather and going round to vaccinate the dogs and cats.

Thank you Prof. Susan Mbugua, Dr. James Nyariki, Dr. Desmond Tutu and Dr. Fransica Ngatia.

We cannot forget our volunteers from the University of Nairobi Vet students, and our TNR Trust volunteers Priya, Carla, Asante sana. You are the best!

WORLD RABIES DAY: Educating the future of this country

TNR Trust Karura Education Children Event

Going with the theme for this year’s World Rabies Day that is “Share the Message, Save a Life.” on 21st September, 2018, TNR Trust in collaboration with Friends of Karura held a half day Kids Event at Karura Forest. The intention of the event was to sensitize school children of the age of 6 years to 14 years old children on the subject rabies. It should be noted 2,000 Kenyans die every year because of rabies

For the event to be more relevant and factual, we invited Fifth Year Veterinary students from the University of Nairobi who took through the children on that particular subject. And a lot of questions came out for the speaker to answer during Q&A time.

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It will be important to note some of the interesting questions the students had concerning rabies. The questions included:

  1. Can an infected dog that is pregnant, give birth to puppies that are infected with rabies?
  2. Where did this disease come from?
  3. If a dog has rabies, can it be treated and get healed?
  4. If a dog has rabies, can I kill?
  5. What causes rabies?
  6. How do we vaccinate dogs?
  7. If cats are also infected with

These and many other questions were asked by the students during the talk and our able tutor of the day Rashid Ocholla did a great job in using very simple language to make the students understand what is rabies, symptoms if bitten and how to prevent rabies infection and spread.

Being a children event, we had stuffed toys of dogs, stethoscopes and Dr’s coat, empty syringes and a digital weighing scale, where they imitated being Vet Doctors, with the help of the vet students, they were shown how to vaccinate a dog and where exactly. It was real fun for the students.

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With the sponsorship from Swedish Society, we had prepared colouring booklets with drawings showing how to take care and treat our dogs and crayons for the students, which we gave them to colour and take home.

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Being an education event, Swahili Rabies posters were given to all the students and their teachers to take home to their parents and neighbours. The teachers and the students were very happy for learning much about rabies and how it can be prevented.

Rabies: Zero Deaths by 2030 Vision

Rabies is a viral disease that affects mammals and can lead to paralysis and death. The Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (Kiambu County) is one of the many organization who is offering their services.

The department hopes to mark the world rabies day on Saturday 29th September 2018 at Kanjeru stadium (Gitaru) Kabete sub-county. With this year’s theme being ‘ ZERO DEATHS BY 2030‘, the department’s main activities of the day will include; Free vaccination of dogs and cats against rabies, free deworming, free neutering of dogs and a sensitization session on the need to control the fatal disease.

Rabies - 2030 Vision 2

Rabies - 2030 Vision

RABIES: How do I prevent it?

In light of World Rabies Day on 28 September, we will dedicate this week’s post to Rabies: The facts, the figures, how to prevent it and our goals.

  1. Make sure your pets are vaccinated annually by a registered vet or DVO. Vaccines through a DVO are cheap, costing about Ksh 100.
  2. Do not touch unknown dogs and wildlife.
  3. Educate your community.
  4. “Do it yourself”: Facilitate/sponsor vaccinations of street dogs and pets of low income people in your community.
  5. Facilitate/sponsor sterilization of pets to reduce the spread of rabies in neglected pet populations.
  6. Contact TNR Trust for vets who participate in our community programme or contact a vet in your area through the Kenya Veterinary Board.
  7. Sponsor rabies vaccination campaigns by KSPCA, TNR Trust and other such institutions.
  8. TNR Trust’s mission is to help eradicate rabies in Kenya using a mobile clinic to
    reach communities. Be part of driving this clinic – help us eradicate rabies and keep
    Kenyan communities safe! Donate towards our mobile clinic – materials or cash – so we can reach many.

For more information on TNR Trust and Rabies Prevention, check out our flyer HERE.

 

Rabies Prevention: what to do in case of a dog bite?

In light of World Rabies Day on 28 September, we will dedicate this week’s post to Rabies: The facts, the figures, how to prevent it and our goals.

Today we look at what you should do if a rabid or unknown animal has bitten you:

  1. Make the bite / wound bleed as much as possible, then wash with clean water and soap or disinfectant. This reduces the chance of rabies substantially. THIS IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR IMMEDIATE TREATMENT BY A DOCTOR INCLUDING POST EXPOSURE RABIES VACCINATIONS!
  2. You should go and see your doctor IMMEDIATELY!
  3. DO NOT WAIT: once you are infected the disease is always fatal if not treated immediately, or once symptoms appear!

For more information, see our flyer at the following link: TNR Rabies Prevention Flyer

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Rabies: What is it?

In light of World Rabies Day on 28 September, we will dedicate this week’s post to Rabies: The facts, the figures, how to prevent it and our goals.

WHAT IS RABIES

Rabies is a viral disease that is nearly always fatal. Infected dogs cause more than 99% of rabies cases in humans.

In Kenya approximately 2,000 humans die from the disease annually, 40% of these are children under 15. In rural populations, this figure is 95% for children under 15. Additionally, a significant number of livestock, pets and wildlife die from rabies every year.

This little girl used to be scared of dogs. Thanks to her brother and her furry friend, she became best friends with a dog!
TNR Trust doing vaccinations in Kiambu County: This little girl used to be scared of dogs. Thanks to her brother and her furry friend, she became best friends with a dog!

Rabies is a disease that is 100% preventable through vaccination. The Kenyan Ministry of
Agriculture, Livestock & Fisheries together with the World Health Organization, have started a program to eliminate the disease through:
▪ Mass dog vaccinations
▪ Educating the public

RABIES IN PEOPLE

Rabies mainly affects people in poor rural communities. People get the disease from the saliva of an animal that is infected. For example, if an infected dog bites or licks a human, that person can get rabies if the skin is broken and the saliva of the dog enters the person’s body. If the skin is not broken, the person is less likely to get sick.

Main symptoms of Rabies in Humans:
▪ Pain at the bite site
▪ A general feeling of illness
▪ Fever
▪ Headache
▪ Poor appetite, nausea, vomiting
▪ Muscle aches
▪ Sore throat
▪ Depression

TNR Trust Rabies Vaccination Campaign in Kiambu County
TNR Trust Rabies Vaccination Campaign in Kiambu County

RABIES IN DOGS

Dogs get rabies from the bite of any animal that has rabies. Infected dogs often display clear behaviour changes: friendly animals may become shy or irritable, whereas, aggressive animals may become affectionate and docile. However if you do not know a dog it might be difficult to tell whether he is showing signs of rabies.

Main symptoms of Rabies in Dogs:
▪ Constant licking of bite site
▪ Jaw is dropped
▪ Inability to swallow, hydrophobia (extreme or irrational fear of water)
▪ Change in tone of bark
▪ Disorientation
▪ Seizures, paralysis
▪ Excessive foam at the mouth

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