However, Lim Shiang Mey, a representative of Penang Hope of Strays, said a group of NGOs had had a discussion on the matter with Lim and the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) officers.
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None of the people bitten by dogs in Perlis, Kedah and Penang have been infected by rabies.
Its deputy director general (health) Dr Kamarudin Md Isa said a request was made to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) through the Regional Vaccine Bank for Rabies in Asia.
“They are in stable condition and show no symptoms of rabies infection”.
Dr Siti Salmiyah Tahir, the state DVS director, said it was hard to estimate when the new stock would arrive as the vaccine was imported. “The last case reported involving humans was in 1998, while the last rabies case, affecting animals, was in 1999”, said Dr Noor Hisham.
The Veterinary Department has vaccinated 2,286 dogs as of Sunday following the rabies outbreak in the northern states.
Its deputy director general (development) Datuk Dr Quaza Nizamuddin Hassan Nizam (pix) said culling strays would protect both people and their pets by reducing the risk of transmission. “But the problem is, if the dog is infected what’s there to vaccinate against?”
Lim said it was important for dog owners to keep their pets away from stray animals because the DVS’s anti-rabies vaccine had run out of stock as of yesterday.
“If killing is the best solution to end a disease, should the state government start killing human if there was an HIV outbreak?”
“We do not know if the dogs were infected with rabies, but all the victims have been given treatment”, he said at the state Veterinary Department in Bukit Tengah yesterday.
He said the state was willing to co-operate with the NGOs if they could come up with measures to control the spread of rabies.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng tells the Worldwide Veterinary Services to bring their experts on rabies and disease control to reveal their proposals to the authorities here.
The 12 people – nine in Perlis, two in Penang and one in Kedah – bitten by rabid dogs have been administered vaccine on the assumption that they could develop an infection, he said.
He said it would take more than a week for the vaccine to be delivered, as the bank is based in Paris.
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Dr Afif said 50 samples from the killed strays had been sent for testing although the results have not returned from the Veterinary Research Institute in Ipoh, but samples from Perlis and Kedah were mostly tested as positive so far.
