CAIRO - Around 10,000 Egyptians are bitten by animals every month. This high figure was enough to exclude Egypt from the International Olympic Committee's plans to have the country host the Olympic Games. The problem is that there are nearly 5 million strays on the streets of Egypt. The Ministry of Health says that it has 600,000 vaccines, costing LE20 million ($3.6m), available every year, for people who have been bitten. The Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines stresses that these vaccines, most of which are imported from France, are the best money can buy and meet the World Health Organisation's standards. Anyone bitten by a stray dog needs five injections: the first on the first day, then the other four on days three, seven, 14 and 30. In addition, the patient should get an additional dose three months after being bitten. Something needs to be done about stray dogs, because of the danger to the lives of citizens especially children. Professor Mamdouh Sayyed Hassan of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University stresses the importance of prevention, while citizens should stop dumping garbage in the streets, because wild animals thrive on it. “If you do get bitten by a stray, you should go immediately to the nearest hospital and get vaccinated,” he says, adding that any dog that has bitten someone should be quarantined for two weeks, to see whether it has any symptoms of rabies. Sayyed Hegazi, a veterinary expert, says that a bite from a stray dog can give humans 20 diseases, including rabies, tuberculosis and brain tumours. “A bite from a stray cat can give you eye tumours and other diseases, as well as making you infertile, while rats can give you the plague,” he warns. The traditional method for dealing with stray animals is by shooting them in the head, putting their bodies in a lorry and driving them to a remote location for burial. “But many people don't like this. In any case, poison, mixed into the rubbish that cats and dogs eat, is more effective,” adds Dr Hegazi. Professor of Physiology Kariman Diab, who works in Saudi Arabia, told Al Akhbar semi-official newspaper that the place of the bite should be taken into consideration ��" the further from the brain the better. “If you get bitten in the foot, the rabies virus travels from there to the brain within three weeks, if it is not treated,” she explained. Sheikh Farahat Saeed of Al-Azhar (Egypt's highest seat of Islamic learning) says that it is necessary to get rid of stray cats and dogs, because they are a health hazard, but they should be killed mercifully.
