While the headlines scream about diseases like SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and HIV/AIDS, China has gone to the dogs.
 
For all the international publicity it has garnered, SARS has been eclipsed as a killer by old-fashioned rabies.

Called "mad dog disease" in China, rabies is a potentially lethal malady. And the number of cases is growing at an alarming pace. Nationwide this year, 1,297 people died through September, an increase of 63 percent over the same period last year, according to a Ministry of Health report cited by the Xinhua News Agency.

The ministry's statistics indicate 854 deaths from rabies were reported in 2001, and 1,003 in 2002. This marks the fifth straight year with a significant jump in the number of rabies cases in China.

Think about it. In total, about 400 people have died of SARS in China and about 900 worldwide. Yet no calls for national -- much less international -- task forces have been made to fight the rabies "crisis."

Rabies, a serious and often fatal disease that can be transmitted by dogs, cats, livestock and certain wild animals and birds, must be addressed, even if it's not a hot news item.

What's behind this disturbing trend in this, the world's most populous nation? It seems there are several factors, but uppermost is burgeoning individual wealth that has allowed people to become pet-owners, or, as most Chinese charmingly say, pet-raisers.

Each of us likes the feeling of family, and when the single child families of China see the one child off to university, sometimes homes seem a bit like an empty nest. A pet can fill the vacuum. A dog or cat can become a loving companion.

But a pet needs proper care and attention. And that's where experts from the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention blame the public and local governments for a lack of vigilance. Low vaccination rates and weak public awareness campaigns have resulted in poor compliance by pet owners in seeing that their animals are inoculated.

"Raising" a dog is just like raising a child. An owner must take responsibility, and do what it is needed for the dog's health, and for those around the animal. That means getting the animal vaccinated.

Officials in Beijing passed an ordinance requiring urban pet owners to have their dogs vaccinated or face the consequences. The deadline was the end of October. Now authorities must be vigilant in seeing to it that each pet owner walking Puffball down the block is checked out. If the dog owner can't prove his pet's bona-fidos, he/she should be heavily fined.

Stray dogs in rural areas have also greatly added to the risk of people getting bitten, experts say.

To further curb the spread of the disease, the ministries of health, agriculture and public security established a joint supervisory team two months ago to inspect prevention and control measures in rabies-prone areas.

But it won't work without the public's help.

While Beijing dog lovers were grateful to have pet fees lowered by the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, they should bear in mind the new regulation requiring every dog in the city to be immunized from rabies by the end of last month.

Forgotten? Get your dog vaccinated now!

(China Daily November 28, 2003)