Project RACE: Over 700 dogs, cats and monkeys receive rabies vaccinations in Obala

This was during an event chaired by the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries in the presence of representatives of partner organizations, on October 02, 2024.

It’s not easy to make your way through the crowd of mostly pets, leashed by their masters, and curious onlookers on the esplanade of the Place des Fêtes in Obala, in the Lékié department of Cameroon’s Central region. Despite the persistent barking of the dogs, and the sound of baffles broadcasting a looped message urging people to vaccinate their animals against rabies in French, English and the local language (Eton), the users held a coupon bearing an arrival number, and took it in turns to follow the call of the agents mobilized for the occasion.

Reception, registration, vaccination and the collection of supporting documents (as evidenced by a record book and collar) – this is the circuit that forms the route taken by pet owners at the launch of the second rabies vaccination campaign organized as part of the RAbies Control and Elimination (RACE) project in Cameroon.

This free rabies immunization, for which a fee is usually charged, will continue in the other pilot departments of the RACE project, namely Mefou and Afamba, Mefou and Akono, Nyong and Kéllé in the Centre region, and the departments of Mayo-Danay and Mayo-Tsanaga in the Far North region, to the delight of the local population. “Vaccines administered in this way protect canine populations, human populations and communities against the deadly disease rabies”, explains Pr Hervé Bourhy of the Institut Pasteur in Paris.

Race is a flagship project of the Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, implemented by a synergy of players, aiming to vaccinate at least 200,000 dogs and cats, and make a concrete contribution to the fight against rabies in Cameroon and more widely in Central Africa”, notes Mirdad Kazanji, General Manager of the Centre Pasteur du Cameroun.