Beersheba mounts anti-rabies campaign

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
The city of Beersheba has begun a campaign to vaccinate roaming dogs and other animals against rabies, reports www.mynet.co.il. In a campaign that will continue into March, the city's veterinary service is spreading anti-rabies pellets across a wide area outside the city, with the aim of immunizing animals such as dogs, foxes and jackals, and reducing the spread of the deadly virus. According to the report, the brown, matchbox-sized pellets are being spread around sparsely populated areas surrounding the city, including Neveh Ze'ev, Naot Hatzerim, Ramot, Nahal Beka, Neveh Menahem and outside the industrial zones. A municipal veterinary spokesman said that while the pellets were not dangerous to humans or to pets, they should be left alone and children should be prevented from touching or collecting them. Rabies is a lethal virus that attacks the central nervous system and is transmitted by the saliva of an infected animal, usually through a bite. In Israel, the main sources of infection are foxes, jackals and dogs.