Ukraine allows "sanitary hunting" for predatory animals due to massive rabies infection

Rabies is a deadly disease that is transmitted from predatory animals to domestic animals and humans. Since 2023, the number of predators in Ukraine has increased dramatically due to the hunting ban, and with it, rabies cases. To regulate the number of animals in the regions, "sanitary hunting" was allowed. This was announced at a briefing in Odesa by the head of the Southern Interregional Forestry and Hunting Department, Oleh Tkach, UNN reports.

He said that, unlike the usual hunting, sanitary hunting is controlled, has clear restrictions on the number of shots, and all animals are submitted for laboratory testing for rabies. In addition, hunters must obtain a special permit approved by the military command of their region. As for the Odesa region, the "sanitary hunting" is almost complete.

"This work is already at the completion stage. It was carried out during February, and this weekend will be the last one," he said.

At the same time, he said, it continues in Mykolaiv and Cherkasy regions. According to the Odesa Regional State Administration, the problem of rabies spreading among animals in the region is being addressed comprehensively, with immunization being carried out in addition to "sanitary" measures.

"Since last spring, the regional administration and local communities have been receiving appeals and complaints from citizens related to the number of carnivorous animals within their settlements. The population is confused. On December 26, the Cabinet of Ministers' Commission and the Odesa Emergency Anti-Epizootic Commission decided to implement measures aimed at preventing the spread of rabies," said Iryna Shakhotina, Director of the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Odesa Regional State Administration.

The State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, in turn, reported that the number of cases of rabies among animals increased 6.5 times, from 15 in 2022 to 97 in 2013.

"There are four main measures to combat rabies. The first is oral vaccination of wild carnivores, especially foxes. The second is vaccination against rabies in domestic animals. The third is the depopulation of virus carriers. The fourth is the awareness of citizens themselves. In 2023, oral immunization was carried out over an area of more than 9 thousand square kilometers and 228,481 doses of the vaccine were distributed. About 400 thousand pets were vaccinated. In 2024, we plan to increase oral vaccination almost threefold and distribute about 600 thousand doses of vaccines in the region," said Ruslan Akhmadullin, Deputy Head of the Main Department of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in Odesa Oblast.

By the way, in Ukraine, a wild fox attacked a womanwho was walking with her two children.

Help

Rabies is an acute infectious disease of animals and humans. It is characterized by the development of a kind of encephalitis with rapid damage to the central nervous system. In case of delay in providing qualified medical care, death is inevitable.

A person can get rabies from an infected animal through:

- bite;

- scratches and microdamages to the skin;

- contact of infected saliva with mucous membranes.

Cats and dogs among domesticated animals most often infect people through contact, and foxes and wolves in the wild. Stray animals, in particular dogs, pose a particular risk, as they bite as an instinctive response to protect their territory, pack members, or to obtain food. The possibility of aerosol-contact infection has been proven (in the laboratory, during visits to caves inhabited by bats), when the virus passively enters through minor damage to the conjunctiva and oropharyngeal mucosa. If you have been bitten or licked by a stray or wild animal, seek medical attention immediately. Delay can cost you your life.