KUCHING: A pilot integrated operation against rabies kicked off yesterday in several locations in Lundu.
A source, however, said details of the operation would only be revealed after a post mortem, which would be carried out over the next few days.
The pilot project, also covering Bau District, would run until March 10.
“An official statement will be issued once the post mortem is done,” said the source.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, on Feb 26, announced that the operation came about after Sarawak’s rabies outbreak was declared a Level II disaster by the National Security Council in January.
Uggah, who is also State Disaster Management Committee chairman, was quoted by the local media as saying that the pilot project would cover only Lundu and Bau.
He had also said that if it was successfully implemented, the integrated operation would be conducted in other parts of Sarawak.
The integrated operation would involve government agencies including the police, Armed Forces, Fire and Rescue Department, Civil Defence Force, Department of Veterinary Services, Local Government and Housing Ministry and Sarawak Forestry Corporation, while the district offices and the operations control centre at Wisma Bapa Malaysia would act as the secretariats.
Uggah had called upon the communities in these two areas to cooperate with the committee to ensure the operation’s success, and advised that dogs should not be brought out of the two areas, especially the parts affected by rabies, since roadblocks would be set up.
It is also reported that the normal system of targeted removal of dogs would be used during the operation, and its objective would be to make sure that 100 per cent of the dogs within the area would be vaccinated.