Bhubaneswar: Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has successfully vaccinated over 35,000 free-roaming dogs across the City under its Mass Dog Vaccination (MDV) campaign, laying a strong foundation for its vision of becoming a ‘Rabies-Free Bhubaneswar’ by 2030. The initiative was implemented under the technical guidance of Mission Rabies India and College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, OUAT.
The programme operated under the supervision of the City Rabies Task Force, which comprises representatives from the BMC administration, Health Department, Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department, Education Department, Urban Surveillance Monitoring Unit, and the State Nodal Agency for Rabies Control. BMC Mayor Sulochana Das said, “The campaign was executed by ASRA, an animal welfare organisation, and was designed in accordance with the National Action Plan for Dog-Mediated Rabies Elimination (NAPRE), which follows the One Health Approach.” NAPRE emphasises that maintaining more than 70 per cent anti-rabies vaccination coverage among dogs within a defined geographical area is sufficient to establish herd immunity and effectively interrupt rabies transmission from dogs to humans. The programme achieved the milestone across all 67 wards in just 73 days. During this period, 35,395 stray dogs were vaccinated, out of a recorded stray dog population of 47,126, achieving a 75 per cent vaccination coverage based on census data.
BMC adopted a ward-wise MDV approach. Vaccination teams conducted intensive street-to-street campaigns in daily shifts—from 6am to 11am and from 4pm to 6pm. Humane dog-catching techniques were employed, including hand-catching for friendly animals and net-catching for dogs that were difficult to handle. Vaccinated dogs received a parenteral injectable inactivated cell-culture anti-rabies vaccine, were marked with non-toxic identifiers, and released back at the same location. Following the vaccination drive, coverage assessments were conducted against ward-wise stray dog census data and independently verified using the World Veterinary Service (WVS) Mobile Application.
In addition, blood samples from vaccinated dogs collected and tested for antibody titre levels at the Rabies Diagnostic Laboratory of Bangalore Veterinary College to assess the effectiveness of the vaccination programme. Bhubaneswar MDV initiative has already earned national recognition during the national workshop on State Action Plan for Dog-Mediated Rabies Elimination (SAPRE) in New Delhi May 28 and 29. BMC’s veterinary wing was recognised as one of country’s best practices in implementing MDV programmes.
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