Secretary General of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), Bernard Vallat, has offered to give Taiwan scientific data to help the country in its fight against rabies.
Vallat was speaking Wednesday at the 82nd OIE conference in Paris. Speaking to a reporter from Taiwan’s Central News Agency, Vallat said that Taiwan’s rabies case is an interesting one. Rabies was thought to be extinct in Taiwan until cases emerged among wild ferret badgers last year.
Vallat said that in order to prevent the spread of rabies to cats, dogs, and ultimately humans, Taiwan must begin a pet vaccination program. However, Vallat also said that Taiwan must determine whether current vaccines are effective in preventing the virus found in ferret badgers from transmitting to cats and dogs. Vallat said the OIE is willing to help Taiwan and share scientific data.
Vallat also called on Taiwan to ensure that proposed experiments with the rabies virus on dogs meet OIE standards.