Breakfast with Wayne, Lee and Charlie T
Sep 29, 2026 · 6 min · 3 segments
The Department of Agriculture's Director of Animal Health, Dr Mpho Maja, talks us through the vital importance of vaccinating against the deadly rabies virus. (World Rabies Day was marked on Tuesday…
Lungile JaliGuestAlgoa FM Breakfast HostHostDr. Jolly, what is the current status of rabies in the Eastern Cape? And why is the prevention of this particular disease an important priority for your department?
Well, rabies is normally the disease, the viral disease, that affects the central nervous system of animals and is transmitted from the saliva of an infected animal.
And we have had 60 cases that have been confirmed for rabies throughout the province.
Now, I know that the department conducts vaccination campaigns for dogs and cats across various areas of the province.
How do these campaigns contribute to preventing the spread of rabies and protecting communities?
Mass vaccination is one of the important strategies in the control of the rabies.
And we normally conduct a rabies campaign throughout the year and intensify that during the September month, which is the month where we celebrate the World Rabies Day event, so yesterday.
And animals need to be vaccinated at least once a year, every year, starting from the age of three months.
This
requires cooperation between the veterinary services, the human health, the community.
Now we know that rabies can be prevented through vaccination of animals.
What is your message to pet owners who do not vaccinate or are a little hesitant to vaccinate their dogs and cats?
Once a person gets infected by a rabies or gets bitten by an animal that is infected with rabies, Once the signs set in, it's more likely that person will die.
So it is completely preventable from the animal side and also from the human side.
So it is important that we will prevent the animals for vaccination whenever there is opportunity for animals to be vaccinated.
and it's the only method that we can stop the disease from spreading from animals to humans
yeah we know this is not something that uh needs to happen by itself there needs to be collaboration um between the government traditional leaders pet owners and and the communities at large to fight and eliminate rabies across the province
Dr. Jolly, what is the current status of rabies in the Eastern Cape? And why is the prevention of this particular disease an important priority for your department?
Well, rabies is normally the disease, the viral disease, that affects the central nervous system of animals and is transmitted from the saliva of an infected animal.
And we have had 60 cases that have been confirmed for rabies throughout the province.
Now, I know that the department conducts vaccination campaigns for dogs and cats across various areas of the province.
How do these campaigns contribute to preventing the spread of rabies and protecting communities?
Mass vaccination is one of the important strategies in the control of the rabies.
And we normally conduct a rabies campaign throughout the year and intensify that during the September month, which is the month where we celebrate the World Rabies Day event, so yesterday.
And animals need to be vaccinated at least once a year, every year, starting from the age of three months.
This
requires cooperation between the veterinary services, the human health, the community.
Now we know that rabies can be prevented through vaccination of animals.
What is your message to pet owners who do not vaccinate or are a little hesitant to vaccinate their dogs and cats?
Once a person gets infected by a rabies or gets bitten by an animal that is infected with rabies, Once the signs set in, it's more likely that person will die.
So it is completely preventable from the animal side and also from the human side.
So it is important that we will prevent the animals for vaccination whenever there is opportunity for animals to be vaccinated.
and it's the only method that we can stop the disease from spreading from animals to humans
yeah we know this is not something that uh needs to happen by itself there needs to be collaboration um between the government traditional leaders pet owners and and the communities at large to fight and eliminate rabies across the province
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