KUCHING, March 14 — The Pakatan Harapan federal government has contributed RM9.3 million for the ongoing anti-rabies operation in Sarawak, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.

He said the operation was different from other normal operations because it involved various agencies, including the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), military, police, National Security Council, Civil Defence Force Malaysia, Health Department and Department of Veterinary Services.

"That’s why this operation is being carried out. Now we are mobilising 440 officers and this operation is also trying to cover as much area as possible to identify the dogs that are not yet vaccinated,” Uggah, who is chairman of the SDMC, told a media conference here today.

Meanwhile, he said the pilot project of the anti-rabies operation which was conducted in the districts of Lundu and Bau commencing from March 1 to 10 was considered a success.

"I consider it a success because for Lundu we have vaccinated 91 per cent of the dog population there. We found out there are another 2,794 dogs not yet vaccinated. So we managed to vaccinated 2,559 dogs there.

"For Bau, we achieved 81 per cent rate of vaccination. The total average in the two areas, 89 per cent of the dogs have been vaccinated,” he said.

He said 173 dogs in Lundu were microchipped to monitor their movements.

Uggah said the next operation to be conducted from April 4 to 15 would involve the Kota Samarahan and Padawan areas near here.

"We plan to extend it (anti-rabies operation) to all parts of Sarawak after this,” he said.

As of the end of February this year, 27 cases involving rabies-positive dogs were recorded, with 11 cases in Kuching, three each in Bau, Samarahan and Bintulu; two each in Sarikei, Miri and Siburan; and one case in Simunjan.

Fifteen people have died of rabies since the outbreak in 2017. — Bernama