Danny Painter spoke to AfriVet Rabies spokesperson Dr Didi Claasen about the current rabies outbreak in South Africa and the importance of having your pets vaccinated!
Over the past six months, the SA Veterinary Association (Sava) has seen an alarming increase in rabies cases in the Eastern Cape, specifically within the Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City and Alfred Nzo regions.
Can my pet catch Covid-19 and does it need vaccinating? Humans have passed the virus on to pets, but there is no proven evidence that pets can pass Covid-19 on to humans 06 July 2021 - 05:00 Cebelihle Bhengu Picture: 123RF/OLEG DUDKO
Animal lovers have expressed concern about the safety of their pets as SA battles rising cases of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19.
“There have been cases of humans passing on the Sars-CoV-2 virus, causing Covid-19 in pets,” says Leon de Bruyn‚ president of the SA Veterinary Association (SAVA). “This can include cats‚ occasionally dogs‚ as well as exotic pets like ferrets and minks‚ felids‚ pigs and primates. Once infected, pets can pass the virus on to other members of the species‚” de Bruyn told TimesLIVE.