Chilubi to conduct mass elephantiasis vaccination

Chilubi District Medical Office will soon embark on a mass drug administration for elephantiasis to prevent the transmission of the disease in the district.

According to a public notice, health officials intend to administer the anti-elephantiasis drug to all persons of two years and above.

The District Health Office has since appealed to people in the area to turn out in large numbers to receive the drug so that they can stay clear of the dangerous disease.

Health officials have also called on people to sleep under Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) to prevent the spread of the disease which is transmitted through infected mosquitoes.

ZANIS reports that the drug administration exercise will be conducted for five days starting from Monday October 12, 2015.

Once transmitted, elephantiasis is a dangerous disease that causes body swelling and has no known cure.

And in another development Chilubi district council has appealed to dog owners in Chilubi to register their dogs with the local authority.

The local authority warned that it will work with the veterinary department and State police to ensure that dogs that were not registered are eliminated.

The council has also stressed the importance of taking dogs for vaccination.

Last week, three suspected rabbied dogs viciously attacked a 72 year old woman of Kabango village in Chilubi district leaving her nursing serious wounds on both of her legs.

The woman who experienced difficulties in walking after the injuries has since been put on medication at Muchinshi Rural Health Centre in Chilubi.

Ordinary citizens have since appealed to government through the veterinary department to eliminate stray dogs that have been freely looming the streets of Chilubi attacking people and livestock.